


Haikyuu Cuddlefest!

by SpiritBloodDragon



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, Dates, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Lovey-Dovey, M/M, Miya Atsumu is a Little Shit, One Shot Collection, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Volleyball Dorks in Love, Winter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:42:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 36,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27317212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiritBloodDragon/pseuds/SpiritBloodDragon
Summary: Volleyball's a lot of work. Pretty tiring, pretty eventful, pretty fun.Of course, there are some situations outside of volleyball when the players need a little comfort.Okay, let's be real here. I can't write a summary to save my life. I suck at writing summaries, and the title gives the general story away.Haikyuu characters cuddle. Boom.Requests open!
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Akaashi Keiji/Hinata Shouyou, Bokuto Koutarou/Hinata Shouyou, Hinata Shouyou & Karasuno Volleyball Club, Hinata Shouyou/Everyone, Hinata Shouyou/Iwaizumi Hajime, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shouyou/Kozume Kenma, Hinata Shouyou/Kuroo Tetsurou, Hinata Shouyou/Tsukishima Kei, Hinata Shouyou/Yachi Hitoka, Miya Atsumu/Hinata Shouyou, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Shimizu Kiyoko/Yachi Hitoka, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 53
Kudos: 451





	1. Intro!

Hello!

I write a lot a lot of stuff, but I thought, hey, let's do something that's strictly for fluff! My little heart needs a little fluff now that school's started again, so I thought I could start something like this where Haikyuu characters cuddle.

It's not super huge, but I hope you guys enjoy these!

If you guys have any requests for situations where they can be roped into cuddling, I'll definitely write something involving it.

Oh, also, each of these things is going to be 1000-2000 words, if that's fine with you.

Enjoy!

P.S: They don't have to just involve Hinata fics lol, sorry if the Hinata/Everyone tag threw it off. I'm fine writing fics for any ship. Just thought that it might seem that way and oops


	2. Winter Warmth (Kenhina Romance)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenma does the same routine he always has, but it's colder. Luckily, there's someone there to help him out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> So...Kenhina's kinda my favorite Haikyuu ship, gonna be real.
> 
> That's kinda why I just blasted out some Kenhina content

Winter was never the most enjoyable of times, especially in the night for Kenma. It wasn’t all that different from how he spent his normal days, honestly. At night, he’d just bundle himself up under his blankets and bury himself onto his bed, fighting his way through thousands of levels on whatever game he’d recently become obsessed with.

Winter, of course, was similar to that. He’d trap himself in his blankets again, but this time around, the blankets were never enough. He’d always end up shivering, and the heat from excessive use of his devices couldn’t make up for it.

This was a particularly freezing night, the blizzard blasting all around his home.

The entire day’d been shit for him. He had volleyball practice that involved Kuroo making the same old remarks, Lev’s mere existence offending Kenma, and just the entire time period of math class being just as intolerable as usual. And getting home wasn’t fun, either. The car ride was trash, he slipped on ice, every single thing that could’ve gone wrong today did. Murphy’s law and whatnot.

“Kenma! Someone’s here at the door for you!” His mother called out from the kitchen. “He says that you were talking about your day in the morning! Did something happen?!” The last part was laced with concern, before muffled speaking was heard.

“Oh, Kenma’s in his room!” His mother happily informed. “But you know him. He might not wanna get up right now…”

“That’s okay!” A faint voice came through, actually understandable this time. “I can just give him this and hang out!”

Kenma rolled his eyes.  _ It’s probably Kuroo again,  _ he concluded, until he heard the excited cheering.

“Kenmaaa!!! I got you something!” An exuberant tone came through, followed by shivering and then a gasp. “Oh, no! It got covered in snow!” He scrunched his face up. Whoever’d come all the way to his place with that sort of energy was almost certainly not going to be welcome into his home, nor would they welcome into his room.

With all the guts that he had (something that Yamamoto would  _ not  _ let go of the entire day) remaining, Kenma untangled himself from the pile of blankets around him and begrudgingly paused his game with a pout on his face. He yawned, stretching like a cat while his back turned into a glowstick with the monumental amount of cracks that came from it.

Wiggling his toes, he crawled into a different pair of pajamas. He couldn’t fathom how ashamed of himself he would be if he let himself be caught in his favorite pair of pajamas: Some Pokémon pajamas, having his favorite one on it.

It was Scizor.

This time, he chose some more generic pajamas, slowly trudging his way out of his room only to be knocked back with the brightest smile he’d ever seen. He was slightly taken aback, squinting his eyes like he’d just stared into the sun.

In reality, he might as well have.

“Hi, Kenma!” Hinata chirped, before looking down at his sleeve. “Oh, I forgot to clean off my jacket!” He swiped a little bit of snow off, before capturing Kenma in a hug. The older teen tensed up before shivering.

“You’re so c-cold,” he grumbled, hesitantly returning the hug. “Why are you here, anyways? Don’t you have practice tomorrow?” Hinata released himself from the hug, realizing the fact that Kenma was in a short sleeve shirt and his skin was making direct contact with the very same jacket that’d been out in the freezing blizzard only a minute earlier.

Hinata nodded, before a concerned expression fell upon him, “Yeah, but you told me you had such a bad day that I couldn’t ignore it!”

Kenma’s heart clenched and twisted. Whatever he did to deserve such a selfless person in front of him, he didn’t know. Here was Hinata, a winter jacket and all with a scarf, a bright smile on his face, standing in front of him today just because he, Kenma, had had a horrible day. He didn’t even want to imagine knowing how long the trip took; he’d feel the guilt might overwhelm him from not doing something to repay him.

As he helped Hinata take off his winter clothes, he held up to Kenma a little box. Cardboard, a little wet from the snow that had fallen on it over time, and a little crinkled from him being a little reckless, no doubt, but it was still warm when Kenma held it from the bottom.

“Huh?” He stuttered, before pointing at himself. “For me?”

Hinata nodded, humming, “Yeah, I made it myself!”

Kenma slowly opened the box and was blasted with the scent of apple. There, meeting his eyes, was a beautiful, shining apple pie that just smelled like it was really made with effort and care, like each component was taken slowly and with ultra-focus.

_It's amazing,_ Kenma thought to himself, eyes wide in awe.

He raised his eyes to meet Hinata’s enthusiastic gaze, before softly smiling, “Thank you, Shouyou.”

Hinata hugged him again once he put the pie down in the room, “Of course, Kenma!” He sat down on the game addict’s bed, nearly bouncing in excitement. “So, what do you wanna do? You had a bad day, so I wanna do something that’ll make you happy!”

To his surprise, Kenma lied down on his bed, pulling the blanket over him, “C’mere.” Hinata tilted his head in confusion, before hesitantly following his request.

Kenma’s arms snaked around him, a content hum eliciting from him, muttering into his hair, “...you’re warm.”

Hinata smiled, gently snuggling closer, “You too.”

Hinata didn’t notice the gentle pair of lips pressed against his forehead as he slowly dozed off, also not realizing that because of him, he’d been Kenma’s source of warmth for this winter, or at least, the night for the winter.

Or, at least, Kenma didn’t think he’d notice.

“Don’t forget about the pie, Kenma…” Hinata lightly giggled, looking up at the older teen. “You think I fall asleep that quickly with this sort of energy?”

Kenma blushed heavily, suddenly finding it impossible to use any words that would be considered understandable in any language. Finally, he’d decided on, “S-Shouy -- I-I d-didn’--” He felt a light kiss to his chin, shutting him up effectively.

“Just don’t let it go to waste when we wake up…” Hinata grumbled, returning to his original position, a soft smile highlighting his freckles. Kenma gently laughed in turn, keeping Hinata close in his arms.

Maybe this winter night would be even warmer and brighter than Kenma thought possible.

  
  



	3. Unexpected Fear (Platonic Tsukihina)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Out of everyone he knew, Hinata had found Tsukishima to be the one who he thought had no fear. He thought the tall teen thought any fear was irrational, and thus drove it away.
> 
> He didn't think it'd be this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I got a request for a thunder fic and saw that the request came from a person who really liked tsukihina, so I decided to just try it out.
> 
> That being said, I know that Tsukishima would never cuddle with someone to comfort them.
> 
> Sooooo...I tried having it the other way around, I guess
> 
> Enjoy!

The gentle  _ pitter-patter  _ of the raindrops gently tapped, tapping against the window, rolling down the glass, casting a reflection that the emotionally constipated teen could always find solace in.

It never really made too much sense to him. He hated any sort of messes that got in his way. Having to clean his shoes, having to wash his jacket or dry his hair after it drizzles. Yamaguchi constantly tells him to bring an umbrella, but he always brushed it off, stating, “It’s not heavy enough to warrant that,” in the monotone voice that he always bore. It was just natural.

Yet, it filled the sort of silence that he himself longed to fill. It was just...an abhorrent inconvenience that he couldn’t find it in him to trust someone to fill it permanently for him. There were always temporary fixes, of course. Music, homework, pushing away his older brother. Yamaguchi was the only one that’d stuck long enough with him for the taller boy to trust him as a friend, at least.

Of course, this night, there was an extra presence to make more than enough noise than what needed to be filled. The kicking of the bare feet against the wall, the humming of whatever song had become popular, and the furious scribbling, erasing, and frustrated groans of wrong answers on paper had become a cycle that Tsukishima had become well familiar with.

“Tsukishima, did I get this one right?!” The orange-haired boy shoved the paper into the lanky teen’s chest, almost knocking him over with the force of his impatience.

If the tone of his voice and the constant errors in his calculations weren’t a sign, the pout, furrowed eyebrows, and focused, almost aggressive eyes of his were definitely signs.

Tsukishima sighed, sitting up properly as he crossed his legs, his jeans (which Hinata just couldn’t figure out why he’d wear those indoors) scratching against the paper as the blond tried smoothing the crinkled paper out before trying to decipher the chicken scratch laid out in front of him.

Straightening out his glasses, he finally was able to read the work Hinata had written.

The question, of course, being this:

3x+7=16

Tsukishima squinted, making sure he wasn’t as blind as what his mind was currently leading him to believe.

“Hinata, why did you write ‘z=17?’ Where did z come from?” Tsukishima interrogated, regretting listening to the energetic boy’s urgent requests for a study night.

“I dunno!” Hinata confidently declared, putting his hands on his hips in an act of theatre.

Tsukishima pinched the bridge of his nose, shoulders subconsciously tensing as his brain racked, gears cranking in an effort to find the train of logic that Hinata had taken to get both parts of his answer. Not only were the calculations beyond him, the variable use...was...less than ideal, to say the least.

He hummed, trying to find the words to expound on his thoughts, “Hinata...you’re a dumbass, you know that?”

Hinata flushed, stuttering, “I-I’m not that bad! B-Besides, at least I’m coming to you for help, unlike someone who can’t even ask for help!” He defended, tossing his finger at Tsukishima defensively.

“You wanna say that to me again, Straight-F student?” Tsukishima taunted, a gruesome smirk crawling onto his face menacingly.

“Huh?!” Hinata gasped, before standing up and crossing his arms. “Just ‘cause I’m a failing student doesn’t mean I’m not smart! Besides, I can talk to people without constantly being a meanie-face to them!” Of course, his knee pads were still on, and it didn’t do much but make him look less serious about the issue for some apparent reason that Tsukishima couldn’t pick out.

“Meanie-face?” Tsukishima repeated, leaning back as he just let the other boy do the work for him, losing the fight without Tsukishima having to lift a finger. “Shortie.”

That seemed to be the final straw, as Hinata got prepared to jump and defend his point. As he inhaled deeply, he was about to bring out his best point.

Yet, before he could, a loud crack came into the room, booming and echoing out of nowhere, whipping down as the flash of lightning appeared from what appeared to only be a block away.

Hinata stopped, whipping his head around to see the flash before turning to Tsukishima. His eyes slightly widened. In all the time they’d spent arguing, they didn’t realize that the gentle tapping of the rain against the window had become louder and louder, slapping and smacking the window with force.

The younger boy’s shoulders were far more tense than usual, and his eyes had a tinge of shock, almost...fear in them. In all the time he’d known the emotionally constipated teen, he’d never seen Tsukishima shake a little. He’d never seen him falter. Even in the game against Shiratorizawa, his small burst of emotion was the only thing he’d seen from him. After that, it was always as usual.

Yet, here he was, the unwavering tower (emotionally speaking) of the team, looking alert and shocked, silenced.

“Tsukishima…” Hinata whispered quietly, before getting on his knees to be on level with him. He looked softly into his eyes, seeing his face tensed up in ways that he never even knew his face could. “You afraid of thunder?”

He heard something that sounded suspiciously like a threat before muttering, “Don’t worry about it…”

Hinata tried his best not to seem patronizing as he whispered again, “Tsukishima, it’s okay if you’re afraid of thunder. I was too, you know.” There was care in his voice, doing his best to make it seem like he wasn’t treating Tsukishima like fine china. If there was one thing that Hinata thought that Tsukishima hated more than Hinata himself, it was being looked down on. The two going together probably wasn’t going to result in something good.

Surprisingly enough, Tsukishima didn’t instantly snap at him. Instead, he remained silent.

He slowly but surely lifted his head to meet Hinata’s eyes, almost hesitant. Even in his time of vulnerability, he was able to get a threat out, “I swear, Hinata, if you tell a single person about this, even Yamaguchi, I will make--”

Hinata couldn’t stop himself from squawking, “Not even Yamaguchi knows?”

Tsukishima opened his mouth to respond, only to be shut up by another bolt of lightning crashing down onto the ground, sending another wave of shock and shuddering through the younger boy, whose lips had pressed together into a thin line.

It was faint. It was almost silent. But Hinata could’ve sworn that he heard Tsukishima whimper just a tiny bit.

His breath hitched. He’d never thought that Tsukishima would be the person to be afraid of lightning. He knew that Yamaguchi, Kageyama, even Yachi was 100% fine with lightning, considering how often the three of them hung out with Hinata. Tsukishima and Hinata were still friends, just not as close. Meaning that he got nowhere near the same amount of time to spend time with the taller boy.

And the only person he knew who was still afraid of lightning was Natsu, his little sister. And he had only one method to calm her down, and in this moment of panic, he didn’t know what else to do. He gulped, expecting to be pushed away in an instant.

His mind still hazy from all the furious calculations that had gone on in his head, which were all head, only left enough brainpower to clear one single path that he couldn’t avoid, as if it was his instinct.

He kneeled down closer to Tsukishima, who’d tensed up once again, and wrapped his arms around him. His arms weren’t nearly long enough to really cover all of Tsukishima, nor was his body, but it was the best that he could do. Gently nudging Tsukishima closer to his chest, it was the absolutely most ridiculous proportions when it came to two people cuddling, especially considering their roles in respect to their sizes.

“W-What are you doing?!” Tsukishima questioned in shock, his voice strained and caught in his throat. His arms were tense and in an odd position; he had no idea how to approach something like this. He’d never felt this much physical contact before from one person, and he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d been hugged.

It felt...nice. Comforting.

“Shh…” Hinata sounded, and his voice, to Tsukishima at the moment, was oddly soothing, especially for someone he found as grating as Hinata. As Hinata gently nudged him closer, Tsukishima put up a measly fight that ended up being futile.

“Why…?” He asked, quietly mumbling to himself. He felt his cheeks burn up, his eyes averted from the shorter boy’s chest being a decent source of warmth.

“I mean...it’s sort of the only way I know how to calm...people down from lightning,” Hinata explained, carefully dodging the fact that he was comparing Tsukishima to his little sister.

Tsukishima stayed silent for a moment, before muttering, “It’s Natsu, isn’t it?”

Hinata was quiet.

Tsukishima internally groaned at the fact that he was being comforted like Hinata’s little sister, but still couldn’t find any way to refuse it without seeming like a major dick that was too bad even for Tsukishima’s standards. He was rude and did it on purpose, but even he had some limits.

And, of course, he’d never admit it, but Hinata was oddly good at cuddling.

Not only that, but Hinata was forced to swear that he’d never tell anyone how Tsukishima wrapped his arms around Hinata’s waist in an attempt to get closer to him during the thunderstorm while he was shaking. It took about ten minutes, according to Tsukishima, for him to stop shaking.

It was, according to Hinata, twenty.

Nobody else would ever hear their arguments about the time that Tsukishima needed somebody to cuddle with in order to deal with the thunderstorm.

"Wait, Tsukishima, that one time, why would you ever think to keep cuddling with jeans on?"

"Oh, shut it."


	4. There for you (Platonic BokuAkaHina)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata bit off a little more that he could chew, and Bokuto takes it upon him (along with dragging Akaashi along) to be the mentor and comforter to Hinata when his team isn't aware of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> I initially got a BokuHina request, and then I slowly realized how much I loved the idea of Bokuto and Akaashi being a sort of pair of parental figures to Hinata (like Suga and Daichi I suppose), and just had to include them in here.
> 
> plus i like hinata seeming like a little baby in terms of emotions and stuff like that

“Wait, Akaashi!” Loud footsteps were heard behind the setter who was calmly pacing, bag slung around his left shoulder and his earphones in. As they came barreling towards him, the setter didn’t even have time to take out both of his earbuds as something collided wih his left side, slugging his bag a little and causing the calm teen to lose his balance, his earbuds clattering on the ground.

“Bokuto-san,” Akaashi quietly hummed as he bent over to pick up his earbuds, inspecting them for any minor damage. “Is something the matter?”

“Yeah!” Bokuto groaned loudly, clinging onto his friend. “Hinata just lost another match against Nekoma in the training camp!”

It was true. The fourth day of training camp had finally passed by, and the win-loss ratio for Karasuno wasn’t looking so good.

Against each team, they weren’t doing as horribly as their first training camp was. They’d won two of their practice matches against Fukurodani, three of their matches against Shinzen, and two of their matches against Ubugawa.

They’d not won a single match against Nekoma so far. After four whole days and roughly two, maybe three matches against each team every day depending on how long the players’ legs were able to push themselves. So far, they’d played about 9 matches against each team.

Of course, the percentages weren’t good for Karasuno against Fukurodani, Shinzen, and Ubugawa. about 22%, 33%, and 22% respectively. However, at least that showed that they were able to beat the team. At least it showed that they had a chance, that each match provided a sliver of hope that they just needed to push through.

A 0% win rate against Nekoma didn’t seem to show that sliver of hope.

To be fair, Hinata had been begging Kenma the entire week before the training camp to not hold back and all and to bring their best strategies. Kenma, in turn, decided to indulge Hinata, putting a decently high amount of effort into each match-up and watching some of the videos with Kuroo, who seemed to actually bring in some useful information for Kenma to use that the dual-haired boy might have missed.

But it was still not something that Karasuno was prepared for. Of course, the only reason that Bokuto knew all of this was because Hinata had been practicing with Kuroo, Akaashi, Tsukishima and himself pretty much every day after practice. He’d asked Hinata about it. The short boy claimed to be perfectly fine about it, but he could tell that all the consecutive losses were eating away at the energetic teen.

There weren’t many things that they could do. There weren’t any new weapons that they’d come up with, the skills they’d had had only been improved and not replaced with something better, and they felt that they truly had refined their play. It seemed like Karasuno had found their groove, their niche, their true specialty and were only further improving that.

That is, until they faced Nekoma. Whatever Karasuno could throw at them, Nekoma took and threw right back at them twice as hard, and he could tell it hurt.

“Mm,” Akaashi hummed, looking at the volleyball in Bokuto’s hands. “Are you ready to head to the gym now? I think they might be ready now.”

Bokuto nodded, a determined expression on his face, “Yeah! I’m gonna make sure that my disciple wins their practice match against Nekoma tomorrow!”

As the two walked towards the open gym, they could feel the warmth emanating from the gym, being hit with a wave of heat that far contrasted the cold environment they’d been walking through.

“Tsukki, I told ya, keep your hands out like this. Even I could spike through you with that sorta form,” Kuroo chuckled, demonstrating with his own hands. When Bokuto and Akaashi walked into the gym, they were met with the sight of Kuroo advising Tsukishima while Hinata seemed to be deep in thought, something seemingly plaguing his mind.

“Yo, Hinata!” He greeted excitedly, waving to the boy. “You ready to practice?”

Seemingly, Hinata perked up, but not as much as he usually did, “Sure!” It held vigor, but it felt like something was missing. Like something was missing from his tone, his energy, his....vibe, sort of.

Bokuto scanned the room, before looking at Akaashi. It seemed that the setter had noticed as well. Apparently, Tsukishima and Kuroo hadn’t, too far into their practicing that Hinata just sort of looked left out.

“Here, Hinata, lemme show you another trick…”

~~~

Hinata sighed heavily. It’d finally reached the end of their dinner. and Kuroo and Tsukishima had left the cafeteria. It’d been him, Bokuto, Akaashi, and Kenma who were still eating, though Kenma seemed to be preoccupied with whatever game he’d recently become obsessed with, lips pursed and eyes completely focused on it. It only added to the injury that he wasn’t thinking up any new strategies at the moment, and that he’d come up with all of them before the camp even started.

He couldn’t really say that he didn’t expect this. In fact, he was the one who first wanted it to happen. But now, he couldn’t really take it back.

Not only did he hate the thought of Kenma holding back on him, he also hated the thought of admitting defeat to Kenma and asking him to relent. The dual-haired setter was pretty much setting Hinata between a rock and a hard place, and he wasn’t sure where exactly to go.

To be frank, it was stressing him out. He’d wanted his team to get so much better at the camp, for Kageyama and him to find some new tricks or refine their strengths, but against their school rival? It just didn’t seem to be happening.

There wasn’t anything to necessarily rebound from. The loss against Aoba Johsai had long faded away, and everything they’d been doing was just fine and dandy.

That was exactly it. Everything being fine wasn’t enough. They needed more.  _ Karasuno  _ needed more. Hinata  _ needed  _ more if they were going to beat Nekoma at Nationals. If he was going to beat Kenma at Nationals and fulfilled his promise.

As he excused himself from the dinner table, he stiffly walked out of the cafeteria after waving goodbye to Kenma, who merely nodded his acknowledgement.

When he felt he was a safe distance away, he groaned. Loudly. He ran a hand through his hair, muttering to himself in frustration, in anger. It was something that seemed completely foreign to the boy who always appeared as sunshine and happiness, but he felt none of that at the moment.

“Yo, Akaashi, I think I forgot something, can you come with me to go get it?” Bokuto’s voice interrupted his train of thought, his whiny tone enough to intrigue Hinata for the time being.

“Bokuto, why can’t you get it yourself?” Akaashi asked quietly, and Hinata was able to hear the footsteps coming from outside the cafeteria.

“‘Cause I hate the dark!” He whined. “It’s just over there!”

“Are you going to sprint over there?”

“Mhm!”

In a flash, Hinata could hear the footsteps speed up, and he started to panic. Looking around him, he realized that not only was he the only one in the hallway, he was very clearly away from where Karasuno’s was. The bathroom was in the opposite direction, and he didn’t have too many places to go. Even Bokuto would notice his orange hair sticking out in the dark.

So, he did the only thing he could think of before Bokuto and Akaashi got to him. As his eyes locked on to a nearby door, he whirled it open and quickly closed it as quietly as he could, which wasn’t as quiet as he would want.

“Bokuto-san,” Akaashi casually said, though slightly out of breath as Bokuto speeded on, though Akaashi slowed down. Hinata caught his breath, trying to keep quiet.

“Didn’t you hear the door close here?” Akaashi pointed out, Hinata hearing Bokuto sprint back to Akaashi. “Someone’s in here.”

Bokuto hummed, “I didn’t see anyone…”

Hinata internally breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that Bokuto was going to just leave it be.

He was wrong.

“Yello?!” Bokuto shouted as he opened the door with a smile on his face, causing Hinata to jump a little bit.

_ Crap. Crap. Crap. What’s he going to do? Why’s he thinking I’m here? Why  _ **_am_ ** _ I here? _

Bokuto blinked for a moment, before tilting his head, “Hinata?”

Hinata rose his head slowly to meet Bokuto’s.

Bokuto blinked, before quickly taking a seat next to Hinata, “Akaashi, get over here.” There was a solemnity in his voice that Akaashi wasn’t used to hearing, though he knew he truly cared about people he was close to.

In Bokuto’s mind, there was only one reason why Hinata would be in a room alone away from his team: He didn’t want to bring this stuff up to neither Nekoma, the reason for his frustration, or Karasuno, the people he caused this frustration to.

And thus, he took it upon himself and Akaashi to take care of the little crow.

“Hinata, you wanna talk about it?” Bokuto offered, opening his arms as he gently signaled for Hinata to accept it.

He held out his hand tentatively, before biting his lip and shaking his head, “‘I-It’s fine, Bokuto-san. Y-You don’t need to -- AH!” Hinata yelped as Bokuto decided to make the decision for him, grabbing him to hug him from behind, pulling him close to the point where he could rest his head on the soft tufts of hair.

Akaashi, who’d been practically mute the entire time, knelt down to join the group, sitting in front of Hinata, who’d been locked in like a rollercoaster ride with a slightly confused expression on his face. Even though his left knee cracked (something Bokuto still joked about to this day), he didn’t let that stop him.

“You wanted to beat Kenma, didn’t you?” He gently asked, knowing the desire and passion that the boy felt. As Hinata softly nodded, still hesitant to do so, he witnessed Bokuto gently loosen his grip.

“That’s why we’re here, Hinata, to teach you about this stuff,” Bokuto encouraged, speaking words that Akaashi didn’t think Bokuto could actually put genuine effort and thought into. He’d known of the third-year’s complex emotions, but he rarely showed it.

Hinata pouted, “But you d-don’t have to…” He gently nudged Bokuto’s arm, before rustling a little bit in his grasp.

Bokuto ruffled Hinata’s hair, chuckling, “That’s what I’m here for, right? I’m gonna make you the best ace in high school by the time I graduate, and by then, you won’t have to worry about not beating Nekoma, got it?” He gently moved his arms from over Hinata’s shoulders to around his waist, doing his best to make sure that the crow was still comfortable. His body was surprisingly thin, and his skin incredibly soft, at least from what his arms told Bokuto.

Hinata craned his head up at Bokuto, eyes wide and amber pupils honed in like a little puppy, eyes slightly open in wonder and lips softly parted. He leaned his head back onto Bokuto’s chest, which was incredibly firm and sturdy from all the chest receives he’d done in the past (which was something that still seemed both like a miracle and pure skill every time it happened) and gently sighed, cheeks slightly flushed.

Akaashi nodded, “Yeah. I’ll...I’ll help you too. That okay with you, Hinata? I may not...be as skilled as Bokuto-san, but I can teach you a bit about working better with your setter if that’s okay with you…” his voice was gentle, unlike Bokuto’s voice which was still somewhat coarse and rough despite his efforts. 

Hinata, like a baby first realizing their parental figure, gently reached out his arms from over the rollercoaster-seatbelt sort of embrace that Bokuto had had on him, squeezing his hands lightly towards Akaashi. Bokuto nodded, gesturing at the little boy to Akaashi with his head.

Hesitantly, Akaashi put his hand on Hinata’s shoulders, feeling the coolness of his shirt yet the sheer warmth that just rolled off of him. A soft smile broke out of the generally still-faced setter as he joined in, ruffling Hinata’s hair, eliciting a quiet cry of protest.

They both observed Hinata, who still seemed slightly tense but acquiescent of the actions the two of them had taken. It seemed like gears were cranking in his head, before a gentle smile cracked out of him.

“...Sure…”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one was a little more odd to write, mainly because i haven't really written with bokuto nor akaashi before, but it was super fun and i hope that the person who requested it enjoys it!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! if you have any requests, i'll definitely get to them, and i hope you guys take care


	5. Fatigued (Karasuno)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata's been off all week. The Karasuno team all plot in their own ways to figure out how to fix it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I got a request to make something where Hinata feels bad all week and Karasuno tries to remedy that!
> 
> So, here's the thing.
> 
> This is a pretty long chapter compared to all the other chapters, I'll admit.
> 
> The thing is, I didn't know how else to set it up in a way that it didn't seem super rushed.
> 
> So, the result comes this bigger chapter!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> (After this, my current requests in order as Kurohina romance and Kagehina Hurt/comfort *that’ll also be romance*. If anyone wants any ships, Hinata or not, I’ll be willing to do it!)

Kageyama slowly paced to the gym door, the blacktop crackling beneath him along with the snow crunching underneath his boots. There was a malicious aura about him, one that most doubted would be gone even by the end of the day.

As he creaked open the rusty doors of the gym, he walked in, almost slipping as his boots squeaked on the floor. He scanned around for any sign.

Nope.

“Oy, Kageyama!” Nishinoya called out to him, already in full uniform down to the kneepads. “Where’s Shouyou?” It was a well-known fact that everyone knew where Hinata was here pretty much before midnight, like he spent more time in this gym than he did in his very own home.

“Mm,” The setter hummed, eyes narrowed as he tossed his winter coat onto his bag, not caring about how unbelievably dirty it’d be later on. “Bastard didn’t respond to any of my texts this morning, and I ended up waiting outside his place for like...ten minutes in the snow.”

Nishinoya hummed, bouncing the volleyball down on the court a few times, “Doesn’t sound like something he’d do. You try calling him?”

“Twice,” the setter answered gruffly, holding his hand out for Nishinoya to pass him the ball. “Instant voicemail both times.”

The libero put his hand on his chin as Tanaka entered, his eyes instantly landing on his best friend, “Yo, Tanaka, you heard from Shouyou today yet?” The bald man tilted his head, bewildered for some reason.

“Nah, I thought that he’d be here already!” He whistled as he jaunted his way into the gym, slamming the door shut and cutting off the freezing airflow. “Aren’t you two lovers always together?” He stared pointedly at Kageyama, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Kageyama blushed, suddenly finding the floor incredibly interesting, “N-No! L-Like I’d wanna spend time with that dumbass…”

Nishinoya and Tanaka locked eyes, finding a similar degree of doubt in the setter’s words before looking back at him, “Well, he should definitely be here by when practice starts, right?”

That was enough to alleviate some of the worry hidden by the fake annoyance that Kageyama was putting up as a front.

Yamaguchi and Tsukishima soon entered, the latter crooning mockingly like always, “Oy, where’s that hyperactive shrimp, King? Forgot your follower, did you?” He had his hands in his pockets casually, but his nose was up in the air, haughty as always, followed by Yamaguchi urgently whispering to him, practically pleading for him to stop.

Kageyama scoffed, glaring at the blond who held a smirk on display just for the setter, “Nah, that dumbass didn’t even respond to my texts this morning.”

“So perhaps you’ve been deserted a second time?” Tsukishima teased, eyes narrowing deceptively. “You think you should find another land to rule yet?”

“Tsukki!” Yamaguchi lightly hit his arm. “W-What if Hinata’s hurt?!”

The taller teen rolled his eyes, lightly shrugging Yamaguchi off, “As if. He couldn’t even be ran over by a car, since it’d pass right over him.”

Yamaguchi pursed his lips, fists somewhat tightening yet still remaining calm, “Hinata’s not the type of person who’d ever be late to this point...I’m not so sure about him even not being the first one here…”

Tsukishima turned away, making sure that his face stayed a blank canvas, “Even that idiot has to get worn out sometimes, right?”

Tanaka smirked, “Oh, now that’s bull. Even you know that’s a damn lie. Remember our training camp?”

Nishinoya joined in, “Yeah, that’s right! You just must care more about him than you let on!”

Tsukishima tensed, and Yamaguchi lightly smiled. Even if they didn’t notice it from how far away they were, Yamaguchi did, and casually poked his best friend’s cheek like he usually did when he had those small moments of embarrassment.

“You wanna check on him too, don’t you?” Yamaguchi lightly teased, causing him to flush.

Kageyama snorted, “Yeah, he totally does.”

~~~

Yachi was walking through the hallway with Kiyoko after practice, talking with her about some of the things that she’d seen during practice. She’d been learning about how to analyze the players and take the data properly rather than just cater to their fatigued needs.

“Kiyoko, do you think you could help me and some of the other first-years study? Yamaguchi told me that Tsukishima isn’t going to come because of something his brother wants, so I was hoping that you might wanna come with!” Yachi shyly chirped, hands tense around the slings of her backpack like they usually were when she was hesitant to ask something, hunching a little over to feel less like she was being watched while she was being talked to.

Yet, like some external force was listening to their conversation, a quiet buzzing was heard from Yachi’s backpack, a gentle rustling and vibrating as a light glow filtered through some of the seams on the very edge of the bag.

When Yachi pulled out her phone, she answered it, stuttering on her greeting slightly, “H-Hello, Hinata?”

Kiyoko raised her eyebrows as the two girls slowly stopped walking, hearing the horns of the cars whirl by as the stoplight changed colors. She heard some tired muttering, followed by frantic apologies, and finally a quiet sigh. She watched as Yachi’s expression changed alongside it, slowly pursing her lips and bits of worry dancing about her eyes.

“Yachi, you okay?” Kiyoko asked, concern lacing her tone. “What happened?” She would have asked more questions, but she knew the anxious girl more than well enough to know that overloading her with questions was only going to lead to more conflict.

“Uh, Hinata said that he couldn’t come to the study meeting today...he didn’t really tell me why, but he said that he had something to do,” Yachi quietly explained, as if shocked herself. “That’s weird...Hinata never cancels a study group meeting...he always makes it to my place, like...20 minutes before it even starts because he doesn’t like worrying me…” She scratched her cheek, something itching at her on the inside.

“Hm...you think something’s up with him?” Kiyoko wondered out loud, grabbing Yachi by the forearm because she was aware how paranoid the girl was while crossing the street. “Maybe you should ask him tomorrow.”

Yachi flushed heavily, looking like a tomato, “L-Like I-I could e-ever do that!” She gestured wildly with her hands. “I-I could never j-just ask someone a-about that! W-What if I’m wrong!”

Kiyoko lightly smiled, “Don’t worry about that, Yachi. You could just ask him, it’ll be fine. I can come with you, if you’d like.” She looked down at the blond, who was still in a sort of panicked state.

“No!” She squeaked loudly, before taking a breath as she realized what happened. “T-Then he’d k-know and then think that I’m a freak!”

Kiyoko bit the inside of her cheek for a moment, humming lightly, “Well, what do you wanna do, then?” As the two finally came to the end of the crosswalk, Yachi’s nerves calmed down just a little bit.

“Mm…” Yachi stuttered, trying to get her words in order. “I-I can do something...i-if you come with m-me. Is that okay?”

Kiyoko didn’t think too much of it, “Sure, I guess.”

~~~

“Suga? Asahi?” Daichi walked up to the setter with a somewhat serious expression on his face. “Can you stay after practice with me, if you would? I’d like to talk about something with you.”

Suga raised his eyebrows, before brushing it off, “I don’t see why not.” He heard Daichi speak in his Captain™ voice, and just knew that there was something that was going on that he just hadn’t noticed up until now.

As the rest of the team slowly left, including Hinata, the ace approached the captain, “What did you wanna talk about?” He spoke in a calm, yet curious voice. It wasn’t often that they did this. Usually, they talked on their way home together.

“You think Hinata’s been off his game?” Daichi prompted out of nowhere, his eyes staring off into nothing in particular. “I think so, honestly.”

Suga tilted his head, confused as to what could’ve prompted this, “Huh? I thought that was only a few days ago, when he didn’t show up as early as he did.” As he handed Daichi another ball, the captain put it away, clicking his tongue.

“You think he’s been as talkative as normal? Jumps as high?” Daichi asked quietly, before shaking his head. “No...it’s probably just me. Sorry.”

Asahi groaned as he stretched, listening to the captain’s words, “Well...I don’t think you’re totally off, but I don’t think you’re right on the money, you get it?”

“What do you mean by that?” He questioned absentmindedly, closing up the storage room once the two had set the net away.

“I don’t think that Hinata’s off...I just think that he’s focused on something else,” Suga answered. “Even if he was off, he wouldn’t let himself think that he was. I don’t think he’d ever show up late, even if he was off his game. There’s gotta be something else to it, right?”

“What do you think it is?” Daichi wondered. “If it’s not something volleyball-related, I can’t imagine there’s much in his head other than his friends. And nobody’s birthday’s coming up or something. What’s up?”

Sugawara yawned, “I mean...we could always just go there and hang out. Maybe make some small talk, and end up asking, you know? It’s not like we haven’t been to his place before.”

“We’d have to organize it, right?” Daichi suggested, turning towards the setter, and got somewhat startled as he saw a slightly devious smirk on his normally kind face.

“Not necessarily.”

Asahi sighed, exasperated already, “Suga, what do you have on your mind now?”

“Well, I’ll contact Narita, Kinoshita, and Ennoshita first…”

“SUGA.”

~~~

“Uh, hi, coach!” Hinata greeted as he walked into Ukai’s store with a handful of cash in his hand. “I’m just here to--”

Ukai interrupted him with a smile on his face, straw in his mouth, “Buy some more supplies for your little sister’s birthday present and party, right?”

Hinata nodded excitedly, “Yeah! Thanks!” He smiled brightly as he skipped towards a certain section of the store. While it was primarily something most like a convenience store, there were also some other things there that weren’t just snacks and drinks.

As he watched the kid go off, he hummed, before calling out, “Yo, Hinata! C’mere real quick!” In a few seconds, he heard a bit of rustling and stuff falling back, in what could only be assumed as Hinata being caught off guard and trying to set stuff back in place. When he got to where Ukai was at the register, he was holding a few markers and some normal birthday celebration stuff, like candles.

“Mm...just leave the money here and take whatcha need. You probably want this to be a good party, right?” Ukai offered, and Hinata nodded fervently. “Then go ahead.”

Hinata seemed apprehensive, “A-Are you sure, coach? Why are you l-letting me do all of this? Show up to practice late, head out early, and now this?”

Ukai tossed a coin up in the air, “Meh. This is a volleyball team, not a cult that you gotta worship or something. Even you’ve gotta have a life out of volleyball, right?” It was true. Even Kageyama had taken days off because he had some family events to go to. Ever since he’d joined the team, Ukai hadn’t heard of a single incident when Hinata was ever even the second person to practice. When he heard that the orangette actually requested the time, and in such a polite manner?

He couldn’t find any reason to really refuse.

After a few more minutes of rustling, he saw Hinata stumble out of one of the aisles carrying an incredibly large amount of stuff with him. More than he thought any teen reasonably would ever need to bring for anyone’s birthday party.

“Thanks, coach!” He stuttered out, almost losing his balance as he pushed the doors open with a grunt.

“Oy, Hinata! That’s too much!” He began to lecture, almost waving his fist around like an old geezer, before feeling his hand fall into something. He looked down for a moment to meet the gigantic amount of yen laid out in front of him.

He watched Hinata quietly stumble out before turning towards his house, before wondering why the boy didn’t ask for any bags. That certainly wasn’t a smart choice.

~~~

“Why did you pick this place of all places to try hiding?!” Tanaka hissed at the libero as he tried to hang on for dear life. He hadn’t done this ever since he was a little kid, and was more than out of practice.

“‘Cause the bushes are so obvious, duh!” Nishinoya chirped with a smirk on his face, confident in his choice. “Shouyou’s never going to find us!”

Kageyama grunted, pushing himself up a little more, only to hiss a little bit as he felt some bark pierce his palm, “Of all the things you thought he wouldn’t catch, you thought that a dead tree with no leaves would be the perfect hiding spot?”

They were interrupted by some very familiar voices, “Uh...what are you three doing outside of Hinata’s home?” In an instant, the teens’ heads turned towards the voices who were talking to themselves before now.

“Suga-san? Asahi-san? Captain?” Kageyama questioned, the first one to gain some semblance of his composure. “What are you three doing here?”

Asahi shyly spoke up, “U-Uh, w-we’re just here to check up on Hinata. W-Why are you three in a tree?” He fiddled with his hands as he did so, finger tugging on his collar as he fumbled around with his vocabulary.

“Oh, the very same reason!” Tanaka declared with a confident smile on his face, similar to the first time he spoke in his upperclassman tone to Hinata and Kageyama. He soon afterwards pointed to the trunk of the tree on the other side, pointing out Tsukishima and Yamaguchi.

“Yeah, there’s no way that I’m going to climb a tree with the three of them. Not good for my hands,” Tsukishima dully explained, glancing over his hands to imagine what it’d be like.

“And you...thought that this was the best way to confront Hinata?” Daichi raised his eyebrow, confused with their train of thought. He slapped his forehead, thinking the entire idea absolutely stupid while the other second-years casually strolled past them.

They heard the door open, only because Kageyama had caught a glimpse of something. He smacked the tree branch, which was enough to stop them for a moment, before shushing them while wildly pointing towards Hinata’s house.

One of the first clear signs that they needed to pay attention was that it was very clearly not a member of Hinata’s family. Secondly, there were definitely two  _ women  _ and not one single hyper short boy. Third, they recognized all of them.

“Um...is that Kiyoko?” Suga questioned in confusion, tilting his head. “And is that Yachi with her?”

“K-Kiyoko-san!” Nishinoya and Tanaka yelped, almost deciding to just leap out of the tree for the time saved before quickly climbing down faster than Kageyama could blink, forcing all of the other teens to try to catch up with the two women in there at the moment.

On the other hand, Yachi heard a barreling pile of footsteps rolling in the direction that her and Kiyoko were at, as the third-year was calmly taking off her shoes, having picked the lock. She requested that Yachi didn’t ask why she knew.

“U-Uh, I think he’s here!” She urgently whispered, causing Kiyoko to look up with an undisturbed face.

“No, that’s probably everyone else,” She calmly explained, her words being confirmed by the rest of the team blasting into the home, nearly breaking the door from its frame. “See?”

Yachi, bewildered, set her bag down before hiding behind the taller lady, eyeing the boys as they panted, some of them with their hands on their knees while the majority of them were in a pile of limbs and confused joints, “H-How did you know?!”

Kiyoko shrugged, “Tanaka convinced the rest of the team to check up on me like this when I told him I had a bad day last year.” Her eyes darted between the jacketed teens, who were finally gathering themselves to look like something other than a pile of jumbled apes.

“S-So you knew about all of this already?” Yachi interrogated, accusingly pointing a finger at Kiyoko, who simply nodded, unfazed with the entire situation.

“Ah, soon, we’re gonna have to hide because we hear Hinata or something, and then they get caught because somebody didn’t hide their hand properly or something,” Kiyoko recalled, clicking her tongue as she grabbed the younger girl’s wrist, leading her to somewhere on the home.

As the boys continued to argue, they heard some rustling from outside, followed by some grunting. Their heads turned in unison, like a deer in headlights, before turning back towards each other. Kiyoko almost found it comical they looked amongst each other in panic, just like a group would do in a cartoon.

“Crap!” Tanaka cursed, diving for the wall in a fashion that resembled tornado drills far too well, before he was dragged along by Tsukishima, who pulled him along by the collar of his shirt like a war soldier bringing his comrade into the trench.

As the rest of the team scrambled to find a hiding spot, multiple things were heard. Among these things were a cat howling, glass cracking, chairs falling over, and many, many things falling over. Everyone except Kiyoko and Yachi were oblivious to the wild sound effects, but even they were too interested in what the rest of the team rather than what was really happening around them.

However, when they had finally settled in their hiding spot, they heard some footsteps from outside. This time, it was a single person’s footsteps. Their breath hitched. The steps were uneven, holding a messed up rhythm to it that couldn’t be synced together to any melody or beat. That being said, they had no proper knowledge of musical terms, and likely were unable to use those words properly.

They heard a strugglilng grunt to open the door, followed by the creaking of it opening. Hearing Hinata grunting, they gulped, wondering how they were going to escape without being caught by the boy, who could be quite observant if he was paying attention.

A massive, thundering thud came when the things were set on the floor, before Hinata sighed, nearly falling over. He was able to get to a chair, before plopping down on it. His head slammed down onto the kitchen counter, too fatigued to even keep that up properly.

They heard a groan of exhaustion, and glanced amongst themselves once more, their eyebrows furrowed in concern. What could be so arduous that it was able to bring their most energetic friend crumbling down to this tired pile of flesh they heard before them?

Kiyoko, calm and adaptable as always, nodded her head at Kageyama, who stupidly pointed at himself. She rolled her eyes before pointing towards Hinata suggestively, mouthing her signal silently. It took a few seconds for the setter to get it, but when she made a signal for him to walk with her fingers, he understood.

He silently stood, gently tiptoeing towards where Hinata was, praying, begging to whatever higher power there was to make it so he wouldn’t be caught coming from there.

Finally, when he got to an ideal position, his eyes locked with Kiyoko’s again, fear drowning his eyes. She shooed him onwards anyways.

He steeled himself, shoulders tensing momentarily. The rest of the team listened intently, even Tsukishima somewhat intrigued by what was going on.

Kageyama tried to sound as natural as he could, grumbling, “Yo, dumbass. What’s all this stuff for?” Internally, he was able to keep the poker face, but his heart was about to pound out of his chest.

He was surprised that Kiyoko had chosen him. It made sense, considering how it was common knowledge for the team for Kageyama to randomly burst into Hinata’s home and ask what was going on, before sleeping over. The setter claimed it was out of boredom, but they knew.

Hinata grumbled, before weakly whispering, “Natsu’s birthday...I’ve been trying to prepare for it the last week…”

“And your mom, idiot?”

Hinata grumbled, “She’s taking Natsu out for the week to Tokyo as her present to her, so I have this time to prepare and make her a present and bake and...it’s just...so much, man.”

Daichi and Suga locked eyes, concern flooding their eyes.

Kageyama’s voice caught, before coughing to clear it, “You...need help with it?”

Hinata dryly laughed, sounding way too much like Tsukishima to feel like it came from the usually exuberant teen who’d be bouncing off the walls, “As if. I’d feel…” he tried to find the right words for it, before looking at Kageyama with tired eyes. “I...I dunno how else to say it, Bakayama…”

“Other than…?” Kageyama prompted, raising an eyebrow cautiously.

“I’d feel...guilty as ****,” Hinata spit out, feeling slightly disgusted at his vulgar tone. It was...such an odd concept, hearing Hinata swear normally outside of him and Kageyama insulting each other.

Kageyama bit his lip, trying not to let his concern show, “Okay, that’s it, dumbass. You’re clearly too tired. You need rest.”

Hinata groaned, head finally lifting from the counter, his forehead red from the impact, “No, I can’t. I gotta do this before they get back by tomorrow evening. I’ve...I’ve got all of today and tomorrow since it’s the weekend, and I can’t just rest yet. I want this to be the best birthday for Natsu, right?”

The setter blinked, feeling frustration build up inside of him, before guilt ate away at him for his irrational feelings.  _ That’s why you cancelled our volleyball practice tomorrow, you and I?! You couldn’t even tell me?!  _ He shook his head slightly to clear his mind, knowing that being yelled at was  not  what Hinata needed at the moment.

He huffed, before forcefully grabbing Hinata and slinging him over his shoulder, much to the spiker’s protest, “Hey, what are you doing?!”

“Taking you to your room,” Kageyama made contact with Tanaka, who soon hid better before Hinata could detect them. “You’re clearly not in the right goddamn mind right now, dumbass.”

“Then what are you going to do?” Hinata tiredly whispered, voice distraught. “Do the work for me?”

“...yeah,” Kageyama nodded. “I’ll call the rest of the team to be here. We’re going to help you out, got it? That way, you can actually be a big brother and not a goddamn corpse when you celebrate your sister’s birthday.”

“What’s gotten into you, Kageyama?” Hinata interrogated, a little suspicious. Kageyama almost froze, before continuing to walk as Hinata quietly laughed, “Y’know what...I won’t question it. I won’t...what’s the thing? Look a gift something in the something?”

“Gift donkey on its back.”

“Yeah, something like that,” Hinata muttered.

Kageyama brought out his phone as he walked up the phone, texting Daichi,  _ come up in like five minutes i guess.  _ Shuffling his phone back into his pocket, he continued carrying Hinata up the stairs.

~~~

“Kageyama, you guys…” Hinata whispered in awe, seeing his team stand around him. “Y-You all didn’t really have to come…”

Tsukishima opened his mouth, before staying silent, nudging Yamaguchi.

His best friend lightly smiled at him, before directing his attention back at Hinata, “Well...Tsukki was really concerned about you, you know.”

“N-No, I wasn’t!”

“He was.”

Daichi rolled his eyes lightheartedly at their antics, before paying attention to the boy in bed in front of them, “Well, we’re here for you. Any requests? We can help prepare the party for you.”

Hinata softly smiled, looking at all the space on his bed around him. His mother had to buy a gigantic bed for him, mainly because Hinata moved around so much in his sleep that he’d almost always end up hitting his head while landing on the floor while asleep when he moved enough. Hence, he had a king-size bed just for himself. Natsu was always jealous of it.

He twiddled his thumbs, before shyly making eye contact with them, “C-Could...we do…” he made eye contact with Kageyama, who soon got the nonverbal cue.

He groaned, “Hinata convinced me to cuddle with him before you got here. The dumbass probably wants more.”

Suga was happy to oblige, “Sure, Hinata.”

“Suga, are you really--” Daichi began before he was met with a death glare from his fellow third-year, his body and will crumbling under the surprisingly harsh glare that the setter possessed.

Needless to say, he joined the pile.

Tanaka and Nishinoya were quite ecstatic about the idea, being that their precious underclassman would be happier given they fulfilled this request of his. Yachi agreed, mainly because Hinata often comforted her with hugs, and Kiyoko because of association with the blond girl.

Yamaguchi pulled Tsukishima onto the giant bed, and the other second-years joined in as well, finding no harm in it. Hinata smirked at Kageyama, who begrudgingly joined them, though there was a smile on his face, something foreign to his usually harsh features.

“Thanks, guys…” Hinata mumbled, melting into the warmth of the team. Normally, they wouldn’t be able to fit, but the overlap of them, plus their willingness to take off their jackets and incredulously high durability of the bedframe was enough to keep them all on the bed.

“Mhm,” Tsukishima hummed, taking off his glasses. “No problem, shorty.”

Hinata giggled lightly, “Are you planning to sleep here, Stinkyshima?”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

Hinata felt an arm wrap around him from Suga, followed by Kageyama resting his head on Hinata’s legs, finished by Yachi’s hair tickling his neck as she rested her head in the crook of his neck.

“We’ll get to work tomorrow, got it?” Kageyama threatened lightly. “I’m going to force you to if you don’t, dumbass.”

Hinata smiled brightly at them, though most of their eyes were starting to close anyways, “You guys are all so awesome!” The affection was clear in his tone, far more prominent than the fatigue they’d witnessed ten minutes ago (there was no way they’d arrive on time according to Kageyama. That’d be way too suspicious.).

Kiyoko hummed contently. Although she wasn’t in as much contact as everyone else, which she was glad for, she did feel like being here for the boy.

“G’night, Hinata,” Ennoshita hummed.

The rest of the team echoed the second-year.

Hinata smiled, before cutely yawning and stretching a little bit.

“G’night, guys.”

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if any of you have any requests for any haikyuu pair, i'll get to them, i promise!


	6. It (KuroHina Romance)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata thinks that Kenma bought him and Kuroo two movie tickets for a typical date night. Y'know, one where Kuroo and Hinata could just wind down and relax, have some sappy romance moments, and all.
> 
> Kuroo knew all too well what Kenma's idea of romance was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I got a request for a Kurohina romance, and this is it!
> 
> I'll be doing the Kagehina one next, and then the Atsuhina one, and if there's not another one by then, I'll probably either do a Kenhina, Tsukiyama, or a YamaYama one.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Babe, Babe, Sweetie!” Hinata chirped, excitedly bouncing into the room with something in his hand, the doorknob ratting lightly from how suddenly Hinata both grabbed and released it. The rooster was incredibly glad he’d installed something to soften the impact of how much the door was blasted open.

Now, he just needed to account for the doorframe, which he could practically feel breaking at this point. The rust and the squeakiness was almost too much for him to handle.

The man in the suit stopped typing for a moment, eyes dull from the stupidity of this constraint in the report he was writing up, before being jolted forward, his chair slightly belting from the volleyball player’s arms slinging around Kuroo’s shoulders, quickly resting his head on the top of the unkempt hair.

“What’s up, Shouyou?” Kuroo smiled lightly, gently tilting his head up to meet his boyfriend’s ecstatic eyes. “Somethin’ the matter?”

Hinata bounced a little on the balls of his feet, and Kuroo had no idea when he’d taken off his shoes before he entered, “Yeah!” He ruffled around in his pocket momentarily, biting his lip softly as he put in an unusually high amount of effort to find something in such a small space.

After a few moments, he pulled out his phone, wildly opening it by pressing the buttons rather intensely, before opening up his messages.

He shoved his phone into Kuroo’s face, causing the older to back up slightly before putting on his reading glasses (something that Hinata absolutely  _ never  _ failed to tease him about, even nonverbally).

Grabbing the phone like somebody who might as well have been Amish, Kuroo read out loud, “Kenma sent us two...movie tickets?”

Hinata nodded ecstatically, “Mhm! He said that there was this movie theater and that he got us movie tickets to this place with some, like some, uh, couple seats!”

“Couple seats?” Kuroo repeated skeptically. He hadn’t heard of those before.

Hinata hummed, pulling up a picture, “Yeah! Like where you can cuddle and stuff, y’know. Apparently he got us tickets to this super romantic movie, and you know that I’m a sucker for romance!” It was true. For as long as he’d dated Hinata, Kuroo got to know that the short boy was possibly the most sappy boy in the most wholesome, pure way.

Kuroo raised his eyebrow, but stayed quiet. From all his years of being Kenma’s best friend, he knew another thing: Kenma’s idea of romance was...very weird. Not weird as in cringe-like, but weird as in...it got to the romantic part in a more unconventional way.

“Mhm, of course, Shouyou,” Kuroo nodded anyways. It wasn’t like it was going to be an action movie, right? They weren’t about to watch  _ John Wick 3  _ as Kenma’s idea of a romantic movie, right? Actually, scratch that.

Kuroo was absolutely confident that Kenma would take someone out on a date to see that as an attempt to set the romantic mood.

He shuddered, causing Hinata to stare at him with a little confusion, “You okay, Babe?” He kissed Kuroo’s forehead and grabbed his head. “Work been getting to you?”

Kuroo shaked his head, a gentle smile coming onto his face, “Yeah, just that. Now, what were you saying about the movies?”

~~~

The rooster-head looked at the two tickets in his hand, thinking about what Shouyou had told him before they entered the theater.

_ “Kenma told me that I wasn’t allowed to see what the movie was until we started watching!” Hinata complained, a pout on his face that was too adorable for Kuroo not to smile at. “He even told me to tell you that you weren’t allowed to tell me! What’s up with that!” _

Kuroo shook his head, reading the name of the movie to himself,  _ It (2017). You’d think Kenma would pick the original one, or just send us a D.V.D or something. Nah, Kenma probably doesn’t even know what one of those is. _

“I can’t wait to see what Kenma picked out for us!” Hinata admitted, a grin plastered on his face. “You think he picked out a rom-com? I love rom-coms!”

“Shouyou, I have the tickets right here,” Kuroo reminded with a lighthearted smirk, before ruffling the shorter boy’s head. “You forgot already?”

Hinata pouted once more, something that Kuroo just couldn’t resist as he pressed a kiss to Hinata’s forehead, “Cute.”

“Hey!”

Kuroo rolled his eyes, before something caught them, “Wait, I forgot! Y’wanna get some snacks?”

“S-Sure!”

~~~

As Hinata and Kuroo walked (jogged. Hinata’s walking speed was practically fast enough to be considered a sprint, and him slowing down was just like Kuroo’s jog) into the theater, Kuroo got a good look at what Hinata meant when he said that they were couple seats.

It was practically a decently large sofa, one where you could lay your feet onto it with a bit to spare. There were a few small pillows to lean back on, and it seemed pretty comfy just by looks alone.

Kuroo walked up to it, pulling up the covering just enough to see. He whistled, impressed, “This is made of the same thing those...Purple Mattresses are made of. The cross-hatch stuff?” He looked at Hinata, whose eyes lit up.

“Oh, that stuff that you got us?!” Hinata smiled brightly enough to light up the entire theater, and Kuroo could swear some of the people behind him who were settling in had their own hearts constricting at the sight of it.

Once Hinata became a professional volleyball player and the two of them moved in, Kuroo had at first been bombarded with complaints as to some of Hinata’s tiredness and that the bed wasn’t helping him, and probably making it worse.

Kuroo initially tried massaging him, and then quickly learned that he often couldn’t resist touching Hinata like that without his urges as his boyfriend taking over.

That being said, Kuroo offered to buy one of those mattresses that cost a ton but were supposedly heavenly for when you wanted to sleep.

In reality, he pleaded for Kenma to buy it, practically nagging him endlessly until the streamer took what seemed like only a drop out of the seemingly endless amount of money that he had only because he’d promised that he’d stop if they got it.

“This must be, like a really high-end place!” Hinata realized, looking around him in childlike wonder. “I can’t wait to watch the movie!”

_ Sure you can’t. _

~~~

_ “Hiya, Georgie!” A quick silence. “What a nice boat? D’you want it back?” _

Hinata lightly nudged Kuroo, leaning in to whisper, “Why is he in the sewer?”

Yep, Hinata Shouyou was the type of person to constantly ask questions during movies that would most likely be answered if he just watched the movie.

At this point in time, it wasn’t obvious that what they were watching was a horror movie, but Kuroo decided to indulge Hinata, “Because he’s a clown. They aren’t normal people, you know.”

Hinata pouted, “But the circus is so fun to go to!”

Kuroo rolled his eyes, “Whatever you say.”

_ “Uh…” Georgie tried to pick out his words. “Yes please.” His words were cautious, yet still naive. _

_ “You look like a nice boy. I bet you have a lot of friends.” _

_ “Three...but my brother’s my best best.” _

_ “Where is he?” _

_ “In bed. Sick.” _

“No, no, no, don’t tell him that!” Hinata whisper-yelled, his older sibling instincts kicking in. Even though Natsu was already in high school and doing her own things, he couldn’t help but feel those instincts to look over her whenever he could.

Even if she ended up being taller than him.

Kuroo kissed the messy locks, gently whispering, “Babe, don’t worry.”  _ Yeah, he needs to worry.  _ Gently pulling Hinata closer to his torso, he continued watching, rubbing his fingers together to the side to get some crumbs off.

Hinata gently clasped his hand, squeezing it in worry, “It sounds creepy!”

_ “Well, I bet I can cheer him up! I’ll give him a balloon!” Another silence, this time followed by an unblinking stare, solely focused on the little kid. “Do you want a balloon too, Georgie?” _

_ An unsure look, “I’m not supposed to take stuff from strangers.” _

Hinata nodded fervently, in complete agreement; it was the same thing he’d told Natsu many times, mainly because he was paranoid about the ice cream truck after hearing about the Sweet Tooth clown from the video games Kenma’d told him about.

_ “Oh! Well, I’m Pennywise the Dancing Clown!” All with a silly tone that you’d expect from a clown, but it seemed like too much effort was put into it, more than what would normally have been put into it. “‘Pennywise?’ ‘Yes?’ ‘Meet Georgie. Georgie, meet Pennywise.’” There were some silly hand gestures to go along with it. _

_ “Now we aren’t strangers, aren’t we?” A few dribbles of drool ran down his chin. _

“U-Uh, Tetsu?” Hinata stuttered out nervously, looking at the clown’s gigantic forehead in particular. “What type of movie did Kenma get for us?”

Kuroo stayed silent.

_ “What are you doing in the sewer?” _

_ “...A storm...A storm blew me away. Blew the whole circus away!” _

“Baby, I don’t like his laugh…” Hinata snuggled up closer, getting a little worried.

It was at this very moment that Kuroo knew exactly why Kenma had bought them tickets to a horror movie knowing that Hinata was an absolute wuss when it came to horror, and to a movie theater that had couple’s seats.

_ Damn it, now I’m going to owe him,  _ Kuroo thought to himself, looking down at the short man already getting closer to him.

“Don’t worry, Shouyou,” Kuroo comforted, awkwardly wrapping his arm around him. It felt weird with all the popcorn and snacks nearby, trying not to knock all of them over.

_ “Can you smell the circus, Georgie? There’s peanut...cotton candy...hot dogs...and...and…” _

_ “Popcorn?” A tentative whisper. _

_ “POPCORN! Is that your favorite?” _

_ An ecstatic nod. _

_ “Mine too! Because they pop! Pop, pop! Pop, pop! Pop, pop, pop!” _

_ A silence. The rain continues to howl and crack, bashing the two. _

Hinata started shivering a little bit, biting his lip in worry, “U-Uh, Tetsu? What type of movie did he get us?”

_ “Um...I should get going, now.” _

_ “Oh! Without your boat? You don’t wanna lose it Georgie. Bill’s gonna kill you! Here. Take it.” A pause, as Georgie doesn’t reach his arm out. “Take it, Georgie.” _

As the music rose, Kuroo instinctively pulled closer as Georgie moved his arm closer to Pennywise.

A gigantic squeak was heard as the teeth were shown, sharp and bloody, surrounded by piles upon piles of gums. Shivering had turned into violent shaking, and Kuroo had to practically press Hinata’s head to his heart to make sure he was still grounded.

**_CRUNCH!_ **

A yelp, “‘K-Kuroo!” Hinata practically clung on to him, eyes shut in worry and fear, unwilling to look at the screen any longer.

Maybe this wasn’t the best type of movie to watch to get Hinata easing into horror, now that the businessman thought about it.

~~~

“AH!” Hinata yelped, tossing the covers off of him. Heart pounding frantically, he looked around, looking for any sign of Pennywise. Anything he feared, he actively searched for in an attempt to see if there was something connected to the clown.

Yet, the moment he tossed off the blanket, he heard a quiet grumble. Turning around, already ready to throw the solid two pounds of force that came with his fists even at his current age, he was met with the tired form of Kuroo, turning around already to get some more blanket over him.

Hinata blinked, suddenly snapping back to where he was.

He drank in the sight of the dark moonlight slightly peeking in past the blinds. Took in the messy office desk that Kuroo’d stationed there, the bookshelf that completely consisted of either volleyball or some other nerdy stuff that Hinata wasn’t willing to rack his brain over tonight. Slowly noticed the bed, the normal bed there. Seeing the rooster’s hair even more messed up than it normally was, which was a shock when Hinata first saw it.

Saw Kuroo just...sleeping there. Normally. Nothing else. No clown, no scary music, none of it.

He took a deep breath. He put a hand over his heart, and even though they were shaking, slowly forced his legs to stumble back to bed. Laying down, he took a good look at the place around him, making sure nothing else was out of the ordinary.

“No...It’s all good…” Hinata whispered, plopping his head down onto his pillow. Letting out a light groan, he slowly came to realize the presence of the sleeping figure to his right.

“Mm...Shou…” Kuroo muttered sleepily, tossing an arm over his boyfriend. “You okay? Pennywise didn’t scare you  _ too  _ bad, did he?”

“N-No!” Hinata denied, a little too quickly to be believable.

Kuroo quietly laughed, “Sure he didn’t. N’ge’over’ere.” Hinata blinked, but quickly understood, having gotten used to his weird talk every now and then.

Slowly but surely, Hinata slowly melted into the heavy arm rested on top of him, gently placing his own arm onto Kuroo’s waist as he closed his eyes.

“Love ya.”

“Love ya too.”

“Imagine being scared by Pennywise.”

A smack.

“Ow!”

“Y’deserved that,” Hinata muttered with a light smile on his face, slowly taking in the familiar smell of the room around them, along with the boyfriend himself.

Yeah, Kuroo owed Kenma big.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If y'all have any requests, I'd love to hear it!
> 
> Take care now :D


	7. Little Spark (Kagehina Romance)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the one mistake costing them the game against Aoba Johsai, Hinata and Kageyama go their own ways, thoughts poking and prodding at their minds.
> 
> Sometimes, it only takes that one action to either keep breaking, or to recover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> I got a request for some Kagehina with a little bit of hurt and comfort, so here it is!
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy
> 
> Oh, also, I'll be getting to the Atsuhina one next, then Tsukkiyama, then the Iwahina!

_Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzz-_

Kageyama groaned, hearing the vibrations of his phone from his nightstand. He hadn’t been woken up like this at an inopportune time ever since that memory about his middle school team ditching him at the finals match before nationals.

The blanket felt like a crushing weight, his resting body not having fully caught up with his mind. There were multiple chills running down his spine, body sweaty from the blanket, and he felt like the room was like he was in a sauna. Yet, it also felt like he was in some sort of freezer, but only in his right foot.

He lightly mumbled to himself unintelligibly, definitely a curse, before moving his right ankle in a circular motion to test his theory.

Yep, he’d left his right ankle outside of the blanket, which was undoubtedly why he felt so goddamn crappy.

Plus, he was still being blasted with the noise of the vibrations from his phone, and the nightstand felt so far away, and Kageyama hadn’t even opened his eyes yet. He felt like crying. There wasn’t any emotional downpour that he’d suddenly suffered.

Oh wait.

Of course there was.

He blinked, just feeling the crustiness at the edge of his eyelids, almost willing to wipe the bloodshotness out of his eyes, or at least try to.

He sat up, his breath ragged and recovering. Feeling the pound in his head like a heartbeat, he rubbed it gently, unable to put too much force into it. The memories of last night felt hazy, but he could still remember what it generally was, and it wasn’t anything good.

_Why...why couldn’t you just win?_ Kageyama had been telling himself all night. _Why couldn’t you set to the team when they needed it most? Why couldn’t you set to_ _him_ _the way that_ _he_ _needed it most?_

Flashes of Hinata came into his mind. The way that he wasn’t there for him when they needed it most. He gulped, tears pricking at his eyes, gently tapping at him to let them loose.

He could feel, in slow motion then, the way that his smile, his gentle, beautiful smile that always swelled the setter’s heart, the smile that’d brought him back to passion with volleyball, the smile that’d been able to push everyone to do their best.

He could feel every single muscle contract and flex when that ball hit the floor and the whistle blew.

He could feel the pain, the anguish, the feeling of failure in his hands as that gorgeous smile was slowly but surely wiped off of Hinata’s face.

Kageyama, generally, appeared as one of the most emotionally constipated people out there. And he was. Yet, they still brewed inside of him.

And one day, after walking home from practice, Kageyama could remember the question as clear as day when Hinata just blurted it out: “Do you know that I like you?”

After that, he didn’t know what even happened. But he knew that it was something he was glad for, incredibly happy with. After maybe a month or two, they’d finally made it official, telling the rest of the team (leading to a heavy amount of teasing from Tsukishima, of course). Kageyama might as well have been on cloud nine.

And here he was, feeling like a total failure. After that meal they ate as a team, he didn’t even have the time to speak to Hinata, let alone the resolve. Once they got to their respective homes, Kageyama kept trying to pick up his phone, trying to do anything to just reach out to his boyfriend and say something, whatever he could grasp at to just... talk to him.

He blinked, before gasping suddenly, shoulders tensing as his neck nearly broke from how quickly he turned towards his phone, resisting the urge to drive for the damn thing in the first place.

He picked up the phone, seeing the familiar name that’d popped up many times ever since they’d gotten together, with the cutesy emojis that Hinata insisted that Kageyama put on there, even though the sweeter had no objections to it in the first place (though Hinata didn’t need to know that).

His heart simultaneously leaped, clenched, and swelled all at once. He quietly gasped, instantly answering it the moment he got.

He tried to sound as casual as he could, voice slightly rough from the night’s disuse, “Yo…?”

A sniffle. Instantly, Kageyama’s eyes widened despite the slight crustiness remaining, worry slowly filling his eyes even though he wasn’t there in person.

“I-I know y-you d-don’t like me waking you up, K-Kageyama…” Hinata’s voice was feeble, quiet, yet he knew that the phone was right next to Hinata’s ear. “B-But could you come over? I...I’m so sorry…”

Kageyama tried to find the words, but couldn’t. Just like the night before he fell asleep from sheer exhaustion, his mind fizzled out, unable to find the ability to speak again.

Hinata, however, took that silence as refusal, “Yeah...I know I-I messed up...I-I’m sorry for waking you up...S-See you at practice.”

Instantly, Kageyama woke up, shoulders tense in a way different than volleyball would get out of him. _Don’t mess this up, you idiot._

“I’m on my way there.”

~~~

Kageyama didn’t even register the thought that his parents were still asleep, nor that he was still in his pajamas, nor that it was in the middle of night, likely 1 A.M, if not later. None of that mattered to him.

So, here he was, the most he’d thought he had time for before leaving being a light sweater and his shoes, forgetting to put on his socks. He thanked whatever powers be above that he was as athletic as he was, and while he didn’t have his boyfriend’s nearly endless supply of energy, was still incredibly physically able with quite the large stamina pool to boot.

He watched the familiar street light poles zip by him, the sidewalk cracks and lines fading into one blur.

His breaths were heavy, the chilliness blasting into his breath. He could feel the dehydration in his mouth, yet nothing was going to stop him right now. It was practically second nature for Kageyama to know the route to take from his place to Hinata’s, and all of those instincts were coming in handy now. He didn’t think he’d make it; his brain was simply too fried and out of touch with reality to actually function and rationally think about where to go.

Yet, Kageyama kept pushing. It was one of the more irrational decisions he’d made right now, and frankly, he wasn’t sure if he was doing it just for Hinata. Some part of him spoke out to him, telling him that he needed something like this, too. That, even though his main motivation was being there for Hinata at the moment, that there was something that he could get out of this too, no matter how bad that sounded.

By the time he’d reached Hinata’s home, he was out of breath without sweat, hands on his knees without fatigue, mind still racing without function. Fire in his eyes without energy. All of it.

He quietly walked up to his house’s door, before reaching into his pocket and calling Hinata. The phone rustled for a few times before he heard the familiar voice speak again. This time, it was quieter, and even more shaky than before.

“I’m on my way down.”

After a few moments, Kageyama heard the quiet, slow footsteps down the stairs that he normally wouldn’t have heard from Hinata. Instead, whenever he’d come over, the short boy would often bound down the stairs in a flash, sometimes taking five steps down every second while still going down each individual step.

Yet, the moment he heard the quiet creak of the door that he could probably pick out of a sample of sounds just from how many times he’d heard it, all that thought process had gone out of the window.

The words blended together all at once, from both teens: “OhmygodImissedyousomuchImsososososorry.”

Hinata was the first to actually take action, his arms practically feeling like they were burning once they were pressed against Kageyama’s cool skin as he wrapped his arms strongly around the setter, the cold from his chest pressing through the thin shirt that Kageyama had been wearing. However, in a flash, Kageyama returned the hug twice as hard, hoping that he’d never let go.

Kageyama looked down at the spiker, quickly realizing what the newly appearing wet patch on his shirt was from. He held Hianta tighter, before pressing a light kiss to the top of his head, gentle as if he was unfamiliar with the feeling of the familiar fluffy orange tufts.

The light shake, the tight hold, the muffled, almost silent whimpering. It was enough to make Kageyama’s heart twist and turn in ways he wasn’t even aware it could, but the throbbing, nearly stabbing pain was almost too much for him to take.

He’d once thought that the betrayal from his middle school team was one of the most emotionally heart-breaking experiences he’d ever feel in his life, but he was clearly wrong.

No, he was aware that he was wrong, but instead, he looked the other way. And he felt like crap in the moment, realizing it.

Every time that Hinata would get hit in the face with a ball during practice, every time his eyes would twinkle just a little less whenever Tsukishima teased him, and most of all, every time that Hinata’d have a conflict with him over volleyball.

He never thought once in his life that this little ball of sunshine would end up meaning so much to him, both in his life passion and in his love life, but here they stood.

All their words faded away, the slight shivers from the gentle, cold breeze brushing into the living room all that was left.

Hinata quietly whispered, his voice drained of whatever enthusiasm and laughter that would have normally filled it, “Can we...lie down? I don’t think I can stand much longer…”

It didn’t take too long for the two to walk up to Hinata’s bedroom. As they quietly trudged up the stairs and through the hallway, Kageyama recognized the cute sticker that Natsu stuck onto her door, or the pictures framed up on the wall just high enough that Hinata couldn’t take down the embarrassing photos.

Yet, when Kageyama walked into Hinata’s room, he was reintroduced to the familiar smell of the place. It smelled so much and looked so much like how one would envision a room for Hinata would be like: Cluttered, messy, a bunch of volleyball stuff laying around all while mixed with the school things that he never bothered to organize.

It took a little bit of time for the two to lie down onto the bed, yet with the gigantic bed that Hinata had simply because of how much he moved in his sleep, they were face-to-face rather than the previous height disparity when they had hugged earlier.

Kageyama quietly whispered, voice raspy, “I’m...I’m sorry for messing up the set to you then. I...I know you really wanted to go to Nationals...and I failed you.”

Hinata’s lips quivered, trying to stop a sob from coming out. His breaths were shaky, tears slowly sliding down his skin onto his pillow.

“No...No, you didn’t, Swee-...Kageyama…”’ Hinata glanced to the side, not willing to make eye contact at the moment. “I...I should have done better. For me. For the team. For…for you.”

Kageyama gently reached out for Hinata’s hand, the soft rustling of the bedsheets beneath them the only sound for just a few moments, “It’s not your fault.” His voice was soft, yet serious.

Sincere.

Hinata quietly coughed, whispering tiredly, almost lethargic, “And it wasn’t yours, either.” He gave a sad smile to Kageyama, before gently scooting over to him.

Kageyama didn’t know what to say to that.

“Hey…” Hinata softly sighed, this time looking Kageyama dead in the eye, a flicker of hope somewhere deep within his eyes. “We...We’re going to make it next time, right? We’re...We’re going to beat Oikawa...and then Ushijima...and then we’re going to win the Nationals, right? Both of us?”

The setter softly laid his arm out, Hinata gladly accepting it as he rested his head on there, before Kageyama softly pulled him closer to his body by softly pulling his waist closer.

“Yeah. I...I promise, Hinata,” Kageyama quietly whispered into Hinata’s temple, feeling the warmth of the boy’s body and his arms snaking around Kageyama’s midsection. “I love you.” It’d become a small habit of his to always whisper that to Hinata whenever he could. When Hinata asked him about it, Kageyama was soon teased to death by the spiker for being so sappy, unaware that his response of “Because I don’t think I can say it enough to properly show how much I do,” was incredibly cheesy, even though Hinata was a sucker for sappy moments.

“...Thank you,” Hinata gently whispered back, this time letting it out into the air. “I love you too, Bakayama.”

His words were quieter than the drop of a pin, but they were still there. And this time, they came with a little bit of emotion.

Kageyama’s heart jumped.

Sometimes, that wee bit of emotion was all that they needed to get back up and start all over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mate, I don't know exactly why, but I love writing this sort of style!
> 
> I'm not sure what exactly was so enjoyable about writing this chapter specifically, but it was a blast to write.
> 
> If you guys have any requests for any Haikyuu ship in a cuddle, please leave them in the comments!
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> S.B.D


	8. A Pinky Promise (Platonic HinaYachi)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Hinata learns something from his parents, he puts it to good use.
> 
> A secret can be a lot of things, but to Hinata, what he remembers most about a promise is making his best friend from one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> This wasn't one that was requested, but the idea was something that'd been itching at me for way too long for me not to write up.
> 
> I promise I'll get to the Atsuhina one next, and then the other requests after!

I remember that, when I was younger, my mom taught me about lying. She told me to be as honest as I could, to never lie to people. That, no matter what, even if it hurt me, being honest was the right thing to do.

Whether I went into volleyball or something weird like being a professor, being honest, and being who you were, was key. I eventually grew up thinking that I just...shouldn’t lie, that it’d get me punished, that it’d get me in jail or something like that.

And I don’t. I can’t remember the last time I really told a lie that was anything more than me asking for a delay because of a reason that wasn’t totally true, but wasn’t totally a lie.

Now, my dad taught me about these little things called secrets. I remember, at least when I was young, that a secret was...okay to keep, sort of. It wasn’t something that was good to keep if someone else really needed, like, something about it.

But at the time, he told me that secrets were good to keep...if you didn’t want someone to know something embarrassing. That, if it was embarrassing, it means that...I growed as a person from that.

_ “If you really trust someone,” my dad cheerfully chirped to me as he chopped the tomato, my legs almost giving out from being on my toes to see how the knife waved across the cutting board. “You could tell them a secret of yours.” _

_ “Really?” I remember asking, and I could just...remember the feeling. The stupid smile on my face, thinking that I could make as many friends in the world if I told them a secret of mine. _

_ “Yep,” he nodded, wiping some sweat off his brow as he put down the knife, before getting down on one knee to put his clean hand on my shoulder. “But a secret’s only for people you really trust. Not just anyone. So you can’t share one secret with everyone.” _

_ “So...a secret for one person?” I tilted my head. _

_ He chuckled, “Yeah. If you tell a person a secret….and if it’s about you....they’ll probably see you as a person who grew from that.” _

I...I can’t really say I completely understand, but I sort of understand. At least, now I do.

I remember when I was young, I knew two things about lies and secrets: No matter what, lies are not good. However, secrets are different from lies. Secrets can be kept, secrets can be shared with the people you trust most.

And I remember that one time I shared a secret with a new girl at school, I was able to make the best friend that I ever had.

It all started with a pinky promise.

~~~

  1. Primary school



~~~

_ “I’ll admit,” Yachi shyly chuckled as they took a break from studying for just a minute. “I didn’t think that I’d make a friend on my first day at your school. I hadn’t even made a friend at that point!” _

///

“Everyone gather ‘round!” The teacher called out, cupping her hand by her mouth to catch the wild and raving students all over the playground, one hand on her hip as she pushed up her glasses. She pointed a thin, long finger at some of the students who seemed to not have heard the request, the deep purple nail glinting in the summer sun.

As most of the first-years got to the teacher, she gently tapped something behind her, gently whispering something that Hinata couldn’t quite hear, but he tilted his head in curiosity either way.

Slowly but surely, a very quiet, almost silent, timid footstep gently tapped the sand, some of the grains shifting louder than the footstep itself. After a few seconds, the children’s eyes were all on the girl who popped out, short blond hair tied in pigtails and eyes on the ground, not willing to meet any of theirs. Her hands were tightly gripped around the straps of her backpack, though her legs were shaking. From what, the students didn’t know.

“So,” The teacher gently began, in the way they always did when they wanted to bring up something that they felt semi-excited about but mainly brought the tone up whenever they wanted to make the student or subject in question seem incredibly special for its sake, not the teacher’s. “Today, we’re getting a new student! She moved in recently, and I was hoping that you guys would be so kind to let her join your games!”

The teacher brushed a strand of hazelnut hair out of her face, “Would you like to introduce yourself?” She placed a comforting hand on the girl’s shoulder, causing her eyes to slightly widen.

“U-Uh--” The girl stuttered out, before shyly looking up at the rest of the children. “I-I’m Y-Yachi. U-Uh! Yachi Hitoka! N-Nice to meet you!” She bowed, forming a perfect right angle at her waist like it was an art form she’d mastered through eons of practice.

The girl was met with a decently volumed cacophony of introductions, but there was one voice that stuck out, filled with a passion contrasting the blandness of the others: “Hi, Yachi!”

Yachi blushed, turning as red as a tomato. The cause of the blush wasn’t necessarily the rest of the class; Even a kindergartener could figure out that the class wasn’t very genuine in their introduction. However, hearing such a fervent, passionate voice from someone she hadn’t even heard before caught her attention. Who on Earth would be so kind for no reason, and why to her of all people?

“Ah, Hinata-kun, would you mind being Yachi’s partner for today? I’m sure that you’d be a great person for her to talk to,” the teacher beamed, having had done this before with a boy named Izumi before.

“Sure!” The boy chirped, walking up to Yachi with a smile that could melt a god’s heart. “Hi! I’m Hinata!”

Yachi blushed a little more, not really used to conversation with anyone outside of her family,  _ Is he always this...hyper?  _ She noticed that every statement of his held some level of excitement.

“U-Uh, what are we supposed to do?” Yachi squeaked out, before lightly yelping as Hinata gently grabbed her wrist with a bright smile and dragging them over to a place they’d learn to remember: the grass field.

“Oh, Fridays are our free days!” Hinata perked up. “Osaka-Sensei always gives us most of the Friday off as long as we behave good during the rest of the week!”

“That sounds kinda…” Yachi began, before her words slowly faded off, seeing how intently Hinata was focusing on her. “C-Could you stop looking at me like that? I-It makes me feel like you’re trying to figure out my secrets…”

“Oh, secrets?” Hinata giggled, dragging her over to a rather secluded section of the field, where the other kids weren’t playing, before his voice became slightly quieter. “I love sharing some secrets with people!”

“Isn’t the point of secrets...to not share it with a lot of people?” Yachi blinked, pretty confused, hesitant to set down her backpack sheerly because of what Hinata might think of her for doing so.

“Well, yeah,” Hinata shrugged. “But if only one person knows a different secret of mine, then I think I’m a little closer to each person because of some weird way, you know? I mean, it’s a little w-weird, b-but it’s nice to know that I’m close to someone for a reason like nobody else! Like I’m super close to them!”

Yachi gulped. What secret would he be sharing with her, even if he felt like she was someone he’d want to get close to?

“Do you have any secrets?” Hinata bounced on the balls of his feet, giggling. “I’ve got a bunch!”

Yachi playfully rolled her eyes, teasing, “Wouldn’t it not be a secret then?”

“Well, as long as people who I don’t want to know my secrets don’t know, then it’s still a secret!” Hinata answered, sitting down on the ground. “That’s what my daddy told me!”

Yachi gently smiled, “Your dad sounds nice.” She sat down next to him, and Hinata helped take off her backpack.

“Mhm! He’s the coolest dad ever!”

Yachi didn’t know what she was doing, but she felt a little lighter as she did it. Sticking out her tongue at the boy, she quietly let out a laugh, “Pretty sure my dad’s cooler.”

“Nuh-uh!” Hinata stuck his tongue out in response, before lying down. A few moments of silence passed before Yachi lied down with him, already hissing mentally as she knew how tough it’d be to brush all the grass out of her hair later.

“Why...why don’t the other kids join us?” Yachi asked quietly. “Do they not like me?” Her tone turned into concern, befofore Hinata turned towards her, schooching a little bit closer.

“No, of course they like you!”’ Hinata smiled brightly, before his tone got a little quieter. “It’s just that everyone loves using the playground, and...it’s nice when it can be quiet sometimes.”

Yachi tilted her head; she didn’t think that this seemingly hyperactive boy would be the one to appreciate the silence, especially with how loud he was when the class first greeted her.

“So…” Hinata prompted, an uncharacteristic moment of shyness surging through him as he hit her with a timid smile and holding out his hand. “Can I tell you a secret?”

Yachi’s voice got caught in her throat, but she nodded anyways, the only thing present other than them was the grass beneath and the breeze carrying the voices of cheers on the playground, though it didn’t matter.

Hinata held out his pinky next, “Pinky promise? You won’t tell anyone?” Yachi looked at it for a moment, before nodding, locking her pinky with his and shaking it.

“Promise.”

Hinata surged forward and hugged her, “Yay!” She yelped as she fell back to the ground after sitting ground, though not pushing him off. He giggled wildly, and Yachi smiled a little bit.

“Then you promise me something, okay?” Yachi quietly asked, and she felt Hinata nod onto her shoulder. “Good. Then, you tell me one secret, and I tell you one. Got it?”

“Mhm!”

“Good.”

///

_ The following Monday _

///

“Hey, Hinata?” The girl slowly walked up to him, bashful eyes as she held her hands tightly close to her chest. 

“Yeah?” The boy hummed, seeming completely focused on his coloring project, which was so outside the lines Yachi would normally hurl at the inconsistencies.

“...”

“What’s up, Yachi?” He put down his crayon and looked at her, mouth slightly parted and the wonder in his eyes focused completely on her and nothing else.

Yachi bit the inside of her cheek, eyes darting around in an attempt to search for something to motivate her to keep talking C “Could we cuddle again like that and talk about our secrets and nobody else knows?”

Hinata beamed, almost getting up to tackle her in another of his bear-crushing hugs, “Of course!”

~~~

  1. Junior High



~~~

_ “Well,” Hinata started to respond, pulling his knees to his chest like a little bundle after he set his notebooks aside quickly. “I had a lot of friends in my class, but never any I thought I could honestly get super duper close to. You know?" _

///

Yachi quietly hummed, her bed shifting under her a little bit as she kicked her legs back and forth, lying down with her homework in front of her. Having erased her answer from her homework more times than she could count just to make sure it looked neat enough, she sighed, wanting to take a break but unable to, already trapped in by herself.

She quietly groaned to herself, looking over all the work yet again to make sure it was right, making sure that what she wrote was neat and organized, that she could study it later, and any other factor that could possibly exist was already running through her mind at light speed.

However, like anything else, everything comes to an end, and this time, it was Yachi’s thought process. As the brain cells finally overloaded, the gears in her head stopped churning and chunking. As her head slowly fell onto her bed, the pillow helping soften the impact, her groan of frustration was muffled by the pillow, but her hearing wasn’t affected in the slightest as she heard the phone on the nightstand start to buzz, her phone on vibrate as the ringer almost always caught her off guard and sent her into a mini panic-attack.

Lifting her head, she was already gaining a new level of eyebags despite having been able to get some really good sleep recently. She lethargically reached out for her phone, the levels of frustration only growing as she realized that it was just out of normal reach, requiring her to move a little further. That in itself, aat least to her in this moment, was a grave offense to her from God himself.

Bringing the phone to her ear, she humphed to introduce herself, clearly tired.

“Y-Yachi?” Hinata’s voice quietly came through. “R-Remember the promise that we made?”

“Mhm,” Yachi muttered, not having picked up on the fact that Hinata’s voice was deadly silent, and if there were any other distractions of noise, she wouldn;t even have heard it.

“C-Could you come over?” He reluctantly asked. “I’ve...I’ve got some stuff that I wanna say and...I feel like you’re the only one who’s never going to really judge me for it…”

Yachi clicked her tongue, her eyes falling onto her homework. She hummed quietly, her mind debating over the consequences of each choice.

“Sure.”

In reality, she just wanted to sound like she was considering saying “no.” There was no way in hell that she’d not only let down a friend (something she was deathly afraid of, considering how Hinata was her first friend), but also say “no” in favor of doing more homework. It wasn’t happening.

Plus, they’d maintained their promise through the six years of primary school, and even the three years of junior high. The only time that someone had to say no to an instance of secret telling and cuddling was when Hinata was out of town, something that Yachi had never failed to tease him on ever since he’d gotten back for the following month.

Considering how long she’d been friends with the boy, she’d also been helped with her social skills. While she preferred to not talk to others, she didn’t instantly combust whenever somebody other than Hinata initiated a conversation with her. It may have not been super smooth when she talked, and there still remained a few stutters, but it was far better than before.

As Hinata ended the call with a simple “Thanks,” Yachi closed her eyes, reminiscing.

Throughout the years, they’d learned a lot about each other that they’d never told each other. Hinata told Yachi about his deathly fear of spiders, Yachi and her surprising fear of failing in math ever since she was deemed the smart kid after she won a major Kahoot (and that they both shared an understandable fear of clowns.)

It’d gotten to the point where, sometimes, they’d cuddle for comfort from one another. When Hinata’s dad died, when Yachi had her first period and instantly panicked, they’d been there for each other either the day of or as soon as possible to comfort each other, to tell each other things that they wouldn’t say to adults in their lives because it’d be too embarrassing or sound weird to say it.

Which eventually just led to cuddling for fun. Whenever they hung out, there was at least just an hour of cuddling (where, once, Yachi also learned that Hinata loved it when he was the smaller person in the cuddle, with his head resting either on the person’s shoulder or chest, because it made him feel safe.) involved in between whatever other activities they’d had.

Simply put, they were able to tell each other secrets no matter what.

///

After half an hour, Yachi was quietly woken from her sleep, unaware that she even dozed off in the first place. Shaking her head lightly, she quietly groaned as she heard the door rattle a little bit from the decently loud knocks.

“Come in,” she hoarsely muttered, before realizing the state of her voice. As the door creaked open, she heard shuffling across the wooden floor. Opening her eyes, she felt the dehydration of her mouth while noticing the boy in front of her, orange hair pressed down by a gigantic blanket that he’d brought over and wearing his favorite volleyball pajamas, something that Yachi had got him the second year of junior high due to his obsession with the sport.

“Can I...lie down?” Hinata quietly asked, gently gesturing with one hand to the bed, his other gripping the blanket around him tightly. Yachi nodded, finally finding the energy to move her things off the bed.

As he hopped onto the bed lightly, Yachi lightly bounced up, before he crawled his way over to her. She softly sighed as she got settled in, relaxation setting into her as she set her left arm out. While Hinata crawled and laid his head onto her arm, he flailed around a little to get comfy before gently hugging her from the side.

“So, what’s up this time?” Yachi quietly asked, knowing that Hinata usually needed to be prompted to let out what was wrong when something was on his mind.

Hinata tightened his grip on her before whispering, voice dull, “I lost.”

Even though he never specified, Yachi could feel the hurt in his voice and knew exactly why it’d happened. The day before, he’d called her and raved and ranted about how excited he was for his very first official volleyball game. She’d offered to try helping through posters and things like that, but considering how they had decided to go to different schools for junior high, something that Yachi found great amusement in, since the decision to split apart in schools was because Hinata wanted to be on a volleyball team. Naturally, the fact that Yukigaoka did not have a team was more than enough reason for Yachi to snicker.

That being said...she knew what he’d lost this time around.

“I...I got so afraid on the court, Yachi…” he admitted, tears pricking at his eyes while he started softly shaking. “I wanted to make my team seem confident...but we sucked so bad...I wanted to win, so bad…” His quiet whispers turned into whimpers, and slowly progressed into quiet sobs, tears starting to stain Yachi’s shirt.

Yachi only slightly tightened her grip on the boy next to her, silently urging him to continue.

“A-And...A-And…” He started, before hiccuping lightly. The girl offered him a bottle of water, which she’d stored multiple in her room out of panic of the health drawbacks if she were dehydrated.

“Hm?” Yachi prompted gently, letting the silence sink into him.

“I...I don’t know what got the better of me...I…” he sniffled. “I want to beat... _ him... _ so bad…”

“Him?”

“T-The King. The King of the Court!” He declared, though his voice was slightly muffled as he hid his face away, not wanting to shout into Yachi’s ear and give her a new form of tinnitus. “H-He played so g-good, a-and h-his team b-beat us a-and--”

“Shh…” Yachi gently hummed, gently hugging him closer.

Hinata’s voice got caught into his throat, before he broke out into more quiet sobs, the tears flowing back with a new force to them.

That night, Yachi swore that she’d be there whenever Hinata had a match against the King once more, and be behind Hinata, be by his side all the way while he fought to overcome the obstacle.

~~~

  1. Yachi Joins the Team



~~~

_ Yachi clicked her tongue, sighing as she flopped back onto the bed, “I mean, I’m here now, aren’t I? I’m not just gonna leave you out of nowhere, you know.” _

_ /// _

“Hey, Hinata!” Yachi greeted, hopping up to hug him, tossing her arms around his shoulders and squeezing him in a death grip. “How’ve ya been doing?”

Not even a week after Hinata had come to her about his loss in volleyball, Yachi’d requested that she go to Karasuno to support Hinata, even if she couldn’t stand on the court with him to play. Luckily, her mother didn’t think too much of it, and allowed her to go as long as her grades remained high.

Her grades absolutely contrasted with Hinata’s grades. When Hinata confessed of his failing grades even in his lower classes, Yachi insisted that they held weekly study sessions, which eventually resulted in Hinata’s F’s turning into D’s, and D’s into C’s. Granted, they’d still been working on getting his grade into B’s, but it wasn’t too horrible. He’d actually been able to get a B- in math, which was the highest he’d ever gotten since primary school.

Hinata giggled, a habit he hadn’t lost, gratefully. He’d always kept a light heart in almost every situation, even if he had to vent it out sometimes.

“I’ve been doing good! You?” He smiled brightly as he returned the hug.

“I’ve been doing pretty good,” Yachi shrugged, taking a step back. “Y’mind, you know, moving? I kinda wanna get our study session started soon…”

Hinata bashfully smiled, a light blush coming over him, taking a step to the side and dramatically gesturing for her to enter, “Please, m’lady.”

Yachi snorted, “As if. If anything, I’m the one who needs to learn some sort of manners when you’re around nowadays.”

“Not in primary school.”

“That’s cause I wasn’t your friend then!” She retorted, though there was no bite to it. As she entered, she set her shoes to the side, though acted goofily along Hinata’s royal act as she walked up the stairs in a regal fashion, before setting her backpack down onto his floor.

She settled herself in by looking around his room; every time they had a study session, it’d been held at their houses alternatingly, with Yachi’s place, then Hinata’s, then Yachi’s again, and the cycle repeated, and often Hinata had some new addition to his wall or a new decoration whenever she came over again.

This time, she noticed it on his desk. On the edge of it, she noticed a gentle crow figurine and recognized it from the school fair they’d had about a week and a half back, with a crow plushie available for about 500 yen. According to him, it was well worth it.

Yachi pulled out her pencil pouch and a notebook, following the same routine she always did when they started their study breaks to prepare for whatever subject he’d want to work on.

As he entered with a glass of orange juice for himself and a glass of hot cocoa for Yachi, her personal favorite, she asked while she reached her hand out to grab the cup, “So, whatcha wanna work on today?”

“Oh, I got something for English today!” Hinata chirped, reaching into his backpack that had been cluttered with papers strewn about, something that never failed to get on Yachi’s nerves no matter how much she tried to keep quiet about the horrors in his bag.

Ruffling in his bag for a few seconds, he eventually pulled out a paper that had some slight crinkles on it, causing Yachi to cringe a little at the small rip at the bottom right of the paper.

“So, we’ve got this thing where we have to actually practice our words out loud,” Hinata complained, waving his arms around wildly as he complained.

“And I’ve gotta…”

“So you need…”

“Well, which words are you…”

///

After about an hour and a half, Yachi let out a long breath which she was unaware she must have been subconsciously holding on to. She’d broken a mental sweat trying to help him practice his english, and ended up getting some vigorous practice of her own as she constantly thought about whether or not she was saying the words correctly in the first place.

“Thanks, Yachi!” He smiled brightly, clearly free of his worry about the project. “I can sorta do this now!” He held his hand out for a high-five, which Yachi ended up returning. High-fives happened a lot with someone like Hinata, especially whenever he did something he was proud of.

Yachi kicked back and relaxed a little bit, crossing one leg over the other as she leaned back onto Hinata’s back, “So, whatcha wanna do now? My mom’s not supposed to pick me up for another 45 minutes.”

Hinata stayed silent for a little, racking his brain over what the two of them could do, before he ended up stretching his arms out like he would for a hug.

Yachi rolled her eyes playfully, before giving in and opening her arms out to him, causing the boy to leap towards her, a habit he had also never lost over the years.

As the two of them lied down, Yachi held out her pinky for him to lock on to, something they’d do when they talked just for fun rather than considering anything in particular.

“So,” Yachi started off, dragging out the starting word as she grasped at a topic to talk about. “Ah! I realized, I haven’t really gotten a chance to talk to you about your volleyball stuff.”

Hinata tilted his head a little in confusion, “But we have talked about it, haven’t we?”

“Just briefly over texts,” she shrugged, clicking her tongue a little bit as she looked at him in her arms. “But I haven’t asked too much about it ‘cause I’ve been getting into other stuff, you know?”

Hinata nodded, humming along to seem like he understood what she was talking about but went along, hoping that he would understand, “Makes sense. So...what do you wanna talk about, then?” He let his shoulders loosen a little bit, getting settled into hearing Yachi’s soft heartbeat.

“Well...last time we cuddled like this and talked about volleyball, you’d promised to beat the King. You come any closer to that?” Yachi prompted, before she noticed him blush in embarrassment, biting his lip, causing her to smile a little bit in amusement. “What? Something happened?”

“Uh...you see...about that…” Hinata looked off to the side, twiddling with his thumbs a little bit as he found the words. “He’s...kinda...on my team?” He spoke it like a question, as if he was uncertain about telling her in the first place.

She quirked an eyebrow, “No way.”

“I’m telling you!” He chuckled, grabbing his phone from his pocket and opening up his messages with Kageyama. “See? That’s him!”

She scrolled through some of the messages with her right hand, her left arm occupied by Hinata’s head. As she read through some of the more amusing conversations, she eventually reached the beginning, mainly starting with a specific text from Kageyama to Hinata: “ Oh my god I hate you so much. why are you on my team.”

However, the response was exactly a Hinata response in Yachi’s eyes: “ >:( its not my fault youre the king…”

Yachi snickered, handing his phone back to him before covering her mouth with her hand, “You weren’t lying?” Amusement seeped into her voice, watching him nod vigorously.

As he talked about all of his teammates, from how awesome Nishinoya was to how mean Tsukishima could be to him, he eventually suggested, “You should come to one of our practices some time if you don’t have something going on!”

“O-Oh, I couldn’t!” Yachi lightly denied, chuckling lightly. “I’d probably panic and faint if I even saw a volleyball come near me.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that!” Hinata brushed it off, gesturing lightly with his hand. “Besides, if you’re on the sidelines, Kiyoko-san would definitely stop any volleyball from coming near you. She’s like a ninja or something!”

Yachi laughed as she tried to remember, “Kiyoko...she’s your manager, right?”

“Mhm!” Hinata nodded, before it looked like five light bulbs had exploded in his head all at once, going far beyond just lighting up. “Wait! You could be our second manager!”

Yachi blushed, pointing at herself hesitantly, hand shaking, “M-Me?” She hadn’t ever been involved in any sort of sports; she’d only done choir and orchestra before, though she did join an origami club a few months ago.

“Yeah! You’d be awesome!” Hinata insisted, eyes sparkling. “You’re like, super organized and detailed and me...me...meti…”

“Meticulous?”

“Uh-huh!” He nodded.

From then on, for the rest of the time, Hinata clinged on to Yachi, practically pleading for her to join as a manager.

By the end of the cuddle session, she’d been moved from her point of ‘absolutely not.’

“U-Uh...I think I might…” she admitted with a shy smile on her face. “You promise me you’ll be there if I end up applying?”

“Promise!”

~~~

  1. End of first-year



~~~

_ Hinata snorted, “We’re gonna be sticking together like siamese twins or something, ‘cause you bet I’m gonna be by your side the whole time too.” _

///

Yachi whistled, impressed as she saw Hinata walk out onto his backyard with a full tray in one of his hands and a yearbook in his other. While the yearbook wasn’t too much, the fact that the tray somewhat pressed deeply onto his bright yellow t-shirt was impressive, since she learned through being Karasuno’s manager that she wasn’t very proficient in carrying things in one hand.

On one side of the tray, there were two plates containing some of their favorite foods. While the team had a party for the end of the year, before the third-years graduated, some of the students had some of their own hangouts to celebrate the end of the school year. The first-years had a party. Hinata had joined Nishinoya and Tanaka’s party with some of Nekoma’s members. Kageyama had even dropped by for half an hour to hang out with Hinata at the end of the year.

However, Yachi had asked Hinata if she could hang over at his place, just the two of them. It’d be much more quieter and calm, moments that she’d always savor considering how loud the entire team was (not to say that Hinata wasn’t as loud as them when the team was together. It’s just that Hinata was quieter when he was alone with Yachi).

As he sat down on the bench that’d been set up on the sand where he practiced his receives during winter, he set down the tray, handing Yachi her choice of food and drink.

He softly whistled, “End of the first year already, huh?” His tone held some sense of wisdom to it, but she could tell he was just saying it to start off a conversation.

She nodded, “It’s super cheesy and generic to say it, but it felt like it went by so fast, right?”

Hinata snorted, almost choking on his soda, “That’s how every year feels at the end of it, honestly.”

“So, you got any last things you wanna tell me before the school year officially ends?” Yachi offered, holding out her pinky to him. As he took a bite of his burger that he’d cooked (which smelled marvelous, from what Yachi could tell), he nodded, using his clean hand to lock pinkies with her.

It’d been decided one time that cuddling didn’t have to necessarily mean Hinata was being embraced by Yachi, just some sort of relaxed position. In these situations, Hinata had often opted to rest his shoulder on Yachi’s head despite the fact that he was slightly taller than her. That information, however, caught her off guard one day and caused her to have a semi-existential crisis, having had known Hinata before as the only person shorter than her.

As he gently set his head on her shoulder, he admitted, “I think I wanna go abroad after high school.”

She blinked, taking it in stride, “Really?” It seemed surprising to her, but at the same time, it made perfect sense to her when considering the type of person that Hinata was. If he felt he could improve somewhere, he’d definitely go there no matter the cost.

“Yeah...maybe Brazil...or maybe Argentina...I hear there’s good beach volleyball in South America…” he muttered quietly, the loud slurps of his soda drowning out Yachi’s interested hums. “What about you? What do you think you’re gonna do?”

“Honestly?” Yachi dryly laughed. “Not sure. I wanna go to college, though.”

“Nerd.”

“Hey!”

The two shared a laugh before it died down, Hinata clearly having something on his mind.

“Hey, Yachi?” He brought up, seeming to want to change the topic. “I got something else I wanna admit...and something I wanna ask.”

“Yeah?” Yachi asked, swallowing another bite of food before wiping away the crumbs with a neatly folded napkin.

“I...I think I have a crush on Kenma,” he admitted, a blush on his face.

“Knew it,” Yachi bluntly stated, recalling all the times she’d caught Hinata calling the setter or when she saw him clearly ogle him during practice. “You could probably ask Kageyama, honestly. Even he’d know that you have a crush on Kenma.”

Hinata scoffed, knowing how oblivious the King was, “As if. He couldn’t tell if someone had a crush on him if they flat out confessed to him.”

Yachi clicked her tongue, smirking in satisfaction, “Then tell me why Tsukishima organized bets on how long it’d take for you to ask him out?”

“Huh?” Hinata asked, not having picked up exactly what she said for a moment, before narrowing his eyes. “No way.”

“Look!” She declared confidently, holding out her phone.

Group chat names: Hinata bets

He read through some of the messages the same way Yachi did when he told her about Kageyama being on his team, before looking up at Yachi, “You bet 2000 yen on it happening during second-year?”

“Well, duh,” she waved around her straw casually as Hinata lifted his head from her shoulder. “You wouldn’t wait ‘till he graduated. That’d be too much for you, since there’s always the risk he’d go abroad or go to college before you could confess in person.”

“...”

“Well?” Yachi rolled her eyes, knowing she was right.

“You suck…” Hinata pouted, before shrugging while still maintaining his embarrassed blush. “W-Well? You got any interesting stories to tell?”

“Promise you won’t judge?” Yachi raised an eyebrow, still knowing the fact that he’d absolutely say yes. Ever since their first meeting, not a single secret they’ve told the other had gotten out further than what they wanted. He nodded, eyes on her.

“The only reason I figured it out is ‘cause I realized I had a crush on Kiyoko-san,” she admitted, taking a swig of her drink like it was beer. “When I realized how whipped  _ I  _ was, that’s when I started to see how whipped  _ you  _ were.”

“You like Kiyoko-san?” Hinata blinked. He’d never known that.

“Mhm. Think I realized it during the first training camp I went to, in Tokyo,” she recalled, hand on her chin as she blissfully sighed.

Hinata heard those words and finally registered her previous sentences.

“Was I really that obvious?” Hinata pouted, before a slight flash of worry appeared in his eyes for just a moment. “D-Do you think that Kenma noticed?”

Yachi rocked her feet back and forth, resting her arms in the bench as she mulled over her response, “First off, yes and no. It was Tanaka and Nishinoya who had noticed it first. You know, ‘cause they’re obsessed with Kiyoko... but I don’t think he noticed. He was probably too whipped for you to even notice that you were whipped for him!”

Hinata blushed, turning tomato red before trying to defend himself by changing the topic, “W-Well, w-what about Kiyoko? What if she likes you too?!”

Yachi lightly chuckled, sticking her tongue out at him like in primary school, “Oh, I don’t have to worry about that. We’re already dating.”

Hinata gawked at her, mouth falling to the ground with a thud, “Really?! When?!”

A somewhat aged look in her eyes slowly sparked, like years well beyond her age all contained in there. It seemed not like joy, but contentedness, satisfaction, bliss.

“Well, you know how you’d confess to Kenma before he graduated in case he’d go away before you had the chance to confess?” She randomly asked, Hinata not nodding but understanding the fact. “Well, Kiyo...Shimizu was graduating this year, so I decided to ask her before nationals came. She ended up saying yeah, but we’ve not gone on too many dates so far.”

Hinata blinked slowly, before smirking and grabbing her wrist and dragging her from the bench, “C’mon, we gotta cuddle now to plan what your next date’s gonna be!”

Yachi giggled as she opted to follow him, “We haven’t even cleaned up the table! And you haven’t even gone on a date!”

“Who cares about any of that?!”

~~~

  1. Send-off



~~~

_ “You promise you aren’t going to leave or something?” Yachi whispered, a sad look popping up in her eyes just for a moment. _

_ Hinata softly smiled, reassuring her, “No matter what.” _

///

Gentle creaking came from the swing set, the rust and wear of time from primary school all the way to the graduation ceremony filling the silence between the rocking back and forth.

“You...you’re really heading off tomorrow,” Yachi quietly whispered, her swings far more safe and slow than Hinata’s, who’d been swinging as excited as he did over 10 years ago. “I can’t believe it, honestly.”

He softly laughed, determination in his eyes, though a sad smile came to him, “Yeah, I know. I’ve been here...my whole life, and now I’m heading to Brazil in, what, ten hours?” He slowed down his swings, wood chips scattering around a little more as his feet dragged across them to take away the momentum.

She muttered, a light playful threat to her words, “I better be the first one you call after you land. Actually, nah. Kenma comes first, doesn’t he?”

Hinata snickered, “You won’t let me live that down, won’t you?”

“Absolutely not,” Yachi promised, finally stopping, though more gentle than Hinata’s stop.

They let the silence speak for itself, before Yachi spoke up again, her mind on a new subject.

“I’m...I’m going to miss you,” she admitted. “We didn’t get to hang out all too often because of all the exams I had to take--”

Hinata interrupted her, “Well, if you didn’t take such high classes--”

Yachi shushed him, putting a finger to his lips, “Hey, now, it’s not my fault I wanted to go to college. Besides, I actually have my sights set on something now. I’m heading to this ad design company eventually that collaborates with the same sports company that Shimizu works at.”

“Whipped.”

Yachi flushed while Hinata chuckled, before he clicked his tongue, looking up at the sunset, clouds gently blowing by, a somewhat orange hue at their sides.

“...You wanna do it one last time? Before I have to go tomorrow morning?” Hinata hopped off the swing, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “I think the place where we used to hang out in our first year of school is still unoccupied. Still quiet, you think?”

Yachi lightly smiled, barely speeding up her pace before walking at Hinata’s when she caught up, “You still remember where it was?” She didn’t really expect him to remember the location; she’d be surprised if she was able to remember that small patch if she was asked to.

“Duh,” Hinata tilted his head, squinting a little bit to make sure it was perfect. “You see where that tree is? And the fence? And where the playground is compared to where we are, right?”

“You learned something from triangulation from the one time I taught you?” Yachi seemed taken aback, raising an eyebrow; the Hinata she knew would just say that he felt it was right, or something else related to his instinct.

“Seemed interesting enough,” he shrugged. “I mean, I brushed it off because I felt like practicing volleyball, but it wasn’t totally useless, you know?” He squatted down, gently running his fingers through the grass.

“You’re…” Yachi squatted down alongside him, patting down the grass enough to the point where she could comfortably sit on it and not have to worry about it sticking to her outfit. “You’re right. This is where it was.” Her eyes widened, feeling the wave of nostalgia slowly overcome her.

_ “So, you promise you won’t tell anyone this?” Yachi hesitantly asked, heart pounding. “I-I’ve never said something like this to someone before…” She looked away bashfully, voice even quieter than it would normally be. _

_ In all honesty, she barely had any idea how she was conversing with this super hyper boy without exploding from paranoia of her social skills, which were practically nonexistent. _

Hinata could hear her voice just from where she was sitting, though could see the woman that Yachi had grown into from the girl on the playground. He could practically imagine the new bag Yachi would have with her, alongside the backpack that she’d set aside when they lied down.

_ “Mhm!” Hinata assured, vigorously nodding his head. “I’ll go first!” _

_ He scratched his head, itching around for something, before gasping and holding up a finger, “You see Erina over there?” He tried to subtly point towards the playground. “The girl with the long hair!” Yachi’s eyes trailed towards the playground before falling upon a girl with honey blonde hair that fell just above her lower back, standing like she was royalty. _

_ “When the school year started,” he started to admit, but slowed down as his embarrassment slowly took over, “I...kinda had a crush on her.” _

_ Yachi gawked, “Really?” _

“Hinata?”

“Hm?”

“You ever think about Erina since first-year?”

He snorted, “Nah, the year after she started dating another boy, but like the kid-dating our grade always used to do. Remember the time we did it as a prank to mess around with our classmates?” He recalled the time that he and Yachi held pinkies through the hallway one time, being rewarded with the chorus of “Ooooohs” from their classmates.

Yachi nodded, lying down next to him, stretching out her left arm like she always did, “Yeah...Yeah, I did.”

_ “Yachi!” Hinata called out to her one day, jogging up to her table. “D’you think my mom could meet your mom and I could hang out at your place?! ‘Cause I told her about you and she said that you seem super cool and wanted to meet you!” _

_ Yachi blushed, almost startled to the point of jumping out of her seat from the startle, “H-Huh?!” _

“Hey, Yachi?”

“Yeah, Hinata?”

“You’re my best friend, you know that?”

She gently smiled, looking down at Hinata who had his eyes focused on the sky, “Yeah. I know.”

~~~

+1: Reunion

~~~

_ “Even if you have to go somewhere far off to play volleyball?” Yachi teased, before she was met with the sight of Hinata holding his pinky out to her, a determined look in his eyes. _

_ “No matter what I do or what you do, I’ll always stand by your side and be there for you. Got it?” Hinata stated, tone stronger. _

_ /// _

Hinata stepped out of the taxi, breathing in the air once again

He whispered quietly as he saw the familiar steps, the walls he knew all too well, and all the cracks on the sidewalk right outside the place, “Home sweet home.” Slinging his luggage over his shoulder, he happily jogged up the steps before walking up to see the sign on the right of the door, the crudely etched characters into the wood that he’d carved himself.

_ Kozume,  _ he read it slowly in his mind, taking in every detail, including the way he had to scratch out the first attempt because he had messed up carving one of the characters.

He took a deep breath, letting his shoulders relax before he knocked on the door.

In an instant, he heard a chair from inside scooch out as a familiar voice muttered in something vaguely resembling dissatisfaction, “Sure, go see him. It’s not like I’m his husband or anything.”

A gentle voice chuckled, their voice barely audible through the door, “To be fair, you didn’t really put up much of a fight against her.”

The door squeaked open.

Barely half a second passed before Hinata felt a force that almost knocked him down before he looked at the force in question. Seeing the familiar blond hair, he smiled brightly.

“How ya doin, Yachi?” He giggled, returning the hug with just as much force, still being careful not to knock her out with the force of the luggage coming in as well.

As Yachi released him from her death grip, she smiled brightly in return before grabbing his wrist,  _ dragging them over to a place they’d learn to remember:  _ his home.

Kenma softly got up from his seat, steps as quiet and lethargic yet purposeful as always, “Hi…” Having never spoken too much, not even Hinata could turn the dual-haired setter into a social butterfly.

Hinata almost tackled him with a hug like Yachi had done to him, yet he still treated his husband the same he always did, no matter how he treated other people: with hugs as gentle as if he were holding China.

Yachi gave Kiyoko, who’d rolled her eyes teasingly at the sight, a pointed look, before glancing back at Hinata and making a whipping sound effect with her mouth.

“Whipped,” Kiyoko quietly teased, causing Hinata to stick his tongue out at his former upperclassman.

“She’s rubbed off on your too much,” Hinata smiled, signalling towards Yachi as he set all of his stuff down.

As he took a seat at the table, pulling up a chair of his own, he sighed contentedly, “So, what’d I miss?”

Kenma opened his mouth as he found the words he would choose before he jumped a little, shoulders tensing at the sudden slam on the table. His head whipped around, hair almost smacking himself in the face before he saw a small glimpse of the sight.

Kiyoko, on the other hand, only gently smiled, having heard from Yachi all about the ritual that her and Hinata had had.

Yachi hit Hinata with a smirk, holding out her pinky finger towards Hinata, “Well? I think I got a lot of stuff to tell me, and you better have some stuff to tell me this time.”

///

_ “Even if the only thing I can do is hold your pinky,” Yachi nodded, just as determined as him, having completely forgotten the study session they’d been in. “I’m gonna be with you too. Mhm?” _

_ /// _

Hinata smirked back, slamming his elbow on the table as well to Kenma’s disdain, before locking his pinky with Yachi’s.

“Well, in Brazil...you remember Oikawa-san? So, here’s the thing…”

Maybe lies are horrible things. Maybe they’re harmless.

And maybe secrets can be bad too. But secrets can be shared to someone’s face, not behind their back.

Hinata and Yachi were two people who could always share their secrets together.

And it started, kept going with, and ended with a promise. A pinky promise.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys have any requests, I'll do it!
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> S.B.D


	9. Picture Perfect (Platonic Atsuhina, Atsumu messing with all of Karasuno)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Osamu is yanked along with Atsumu when the setter needed to go to the bathroom, he didn't expect Atsumu to come out of there with a kid who loved volleyball just as much as he did.
> 
> And, of course, he knew that something was up the moment Atsumu even opened his mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I got an Atsuhina request, so this is sort of what I did with it.
> 
> I'll be honest, I don't entirely think I really embodied who Atsumu was, but I love the idea of Atsumu being the most playful dude who just loves to mess with people like a genie with people's wishes

Atsumu clicked his tongue, pacing through the hallway while he waited for the rest of his team. He needed to go to the bathroom badly, but Osamu somehow restrained him to the point where he’d have to wait until his team exited the gym.

“Mm,” he hummed, hands on the back of his head while he quietly sighed. “‘Samu, y’think Tobio-kun’s gonna make it to the point where we face off against him?”

“Tobio-kun?” Osamu quietly huffed, his words appearing nearly silent for a moment among the hustling, bustling crowd looking to get home after the first day of games. “That’s the kid you told me about at your training camp, right?”

Atsumu stupidly grinned, eyes looking somewhat malicious as they always did whenever he smiled, no matter what, “Yep. Goes to Karasuno.”

Osamu whistled, leaning against the wall while he stuffed his hands in his pockets, “They’re the team that beat Shiratorizawa, right? They’re probably gonna make it there.”

He glanced over at his brother, eyes dull yet mind grinding, “Y’wanna see if I could go find Tobio-kun?” He had a sadistic glint in his eyes, something that Osamu had grown familiar with.

“I will murder you.”

“Fine, fine!”

~~~

“D’y’think we could mess with Tobio-kun before our game together?” Atsumu narrowed his eyes, deep in thought as if he was coming up to a solution to a problem. The problem in question, of course, being the making of a problem. Atsumu’s favorite hobby.

“We?” Osamu muttered in distaste, feeling a sour taste in his mouth even speaking to Atsumu when he was so focused on causing problems. “You mean  _ you.  _ I’m not doing anything with you here.”

Atsumu snorted, slapping his brother’s back twice and chuckling haughtily, “Sure you won’t. Sure.” He had a subtle smirk on his face, knowing the multiple times that he’d roped Osamu into pranks on his teammates, though the younger brother was always spared due to Kita’s knowledge of Atsumu’s annoying behaviors.

In fact, Kita had recalled something a decent bit ago:

~~~

_ “So, there was this book I was reading, right?” Kita started, making a little bit of small talk as he tied his shoes. _

_ Aran nodded, humming quietly in confirmation, “Yep. What about it?” _

_ “Called… ‘The Deeper Meaning of Liff.’ Weird title, but it’s about words that should exist...but don’t,” he explained, sitting up, stretching as he always did. “You know one of the words there?” _

_ At this point, some of the other teammates had begun to listen in on the conversation; For what reason would Kita bring up a book right before volleyball practice? _

_ “The one that stuck out to me was…’Brabant.’ It’s supposed to describe,” Kita started, before making direct eye contact with Atsumu, as if staring him down, daring him to speak up after him. “The feeling of when you’re incredibly inclined to see how far you can push someone. As in...push their buttons. Annoy them. Bend the stick before it snaps.” _

_ Osamu held back a snicker at that. Aran smirked, quickly making the connection. _

_ One by one, the rest of the team slowly realized why he was staring so intently at Atsumu. _

_ Yet, when Atsumu realized it, he merely rolled his eyes in amusement, “Har har. Ya got me.” _

~~~

As they lightly jogged down the hall, Kita having released the leash of Atsumu, the two of them were already halfway to the bathroom.

Of course, it didn’t take Atsumu long to use the bathroom. Osamu speculated that it was because Atsumu never watched his hands, something that both disgusted him and intrigued him, considering how his excuse would likely be “Well, I can get back to practice quicker then, can’t I?”

They weren’t even doing anything regarding volleyball for the next 12 hours, yet Osamu could still absolutely believe that that’d be Atsumu’s excuse.

What the younger twin couldn’t believe, however, was when Atsumu walked out of the bathroom with a very short, energetic orange-haired teen in a volleyball uniform bouncing on the balls of his feet right behind him.

“Uhh…” He couldn’t even find a way to phrase his thoughts, to put what he was feeling into words.

Was it confusion? Shock? Interest? Intrigue? He couldn’t decide.

_ God, sure could use that book that Kita-san read. _

“What’s going on?” He sighed, exasperated, suddenly finding all his energy drained from him. He just...didn’t know how many more of Atsumu’s antics he could take today, and the day had only reached the end of the volleyball games.

“Oh, this guy?” Atsumu dryly laughed, before stepping to the side to dramatically wave his hands around. “Meet Hinata. Hinata Shouyou.”

Instantly, Hinata gasped excitedly, “Oh my gosh! You’re Osamu Miya!” He turned on Atsumu, hopping around in a blur, “You really did take me to see him!”

Osamu met Atsumu’s eyes, yet found himself eyeing the little boy again, “Where’d you find him? Did you steal a kid from the crowd or something?” He’d reached the conclusion that Hinata had just been a little kid, potentially a brother who’d come to see his relative’s games, but got engrossed in some of the other players. After all, he and Atsumu were probably some of the most famous high school athletes.

Atsumu snorted, “Pfft. As if. Couldn’t take two steps without a fan coming up to me themself. But, nah, he’s not just a kid from the crowd.”

“Then who is he?” Osamu rolled his eyes, not enjoying the drawn out conversation. He’d much rather hearing where the little boy came from so he could return him to his parents.

“Oh, look!” Atsumu grinned, before pointing down at Hinata’s jersey, the boy in question looking up at the two in slight confusion. As Osamu’s eyes trailed down, he raised an eyebrow.

“This kid’s on Karasuno?” Osamu skeptically asked, a little incredulous. Hinata nodded frantically, a spark in his eyes.

“Mhm! We’re gonna be facing you tomorrow!” He assured, determined, pointing at Atsumu, who whistled, impressed. However, that determined, fiery expression cracked away to reveal an incredibly bright smile right into Atsumu’s face, causing him to almost lose his balance.

With a wide mouth, Atsumu slowly turned his head towards Osamu, a glazed look in his eyes, “I’m keepin' him.”

“No.”

“I’m keeping him!” Atsumu declared, before turning to Hinata with a sickly sweet smile. “Say, how’d ya like to meet the rest of Inarizaki?”

Hinata’s eyes only glimmered brightly, surprisingly receptive (Osamu had no idea how this kid was gonna be treated by his team if they thought he was lost) to the entire idea, “Sure!”

~~~

Surprisingly, not even Kita was able to resist Hinata’s smile. It didn’t take too long for Atsumu and Hinata to convince the team, especially considering how the kid was lost in the first place.

From what Osamu could gather, which wasn’t much considering how he somewhat zoned out from the entire thing, Hinata had gotten separated from his team when he had been struck with a severe, urgent need to go to the bathroom similar to Atsumu. He’d gotten lost halfway through, separated from Kageyama, who was supposed to be going with him, and had just decided that going with someone else who was going to the tournament was the best way to make sure he wasn’t completely lost.

Again, from what Osamu could observe, Hinata might as well have been obsessed and determined as Atsumu when it came to volleyball, as if just as entranced with the sport as his older brother. Something that he found simultaneously endearing and horrifying. The former, mainly because it meant that Atsumu would be able to talk to someone about volleyball who could never get sick of it. The latter, he worried what might happen to Hinata if he spent so much time with Atsumu, despite the fact that Osamu knew full well that he was only vilifying the setter just because of how much time they were forced to spend together naturally.

In fact, as he mulled over the events of the day in an attempt to distract himself from the boredom, he could hear in the buzz of noise, Atsumu and Hinata raving and ranting about various things volley-ball related, but he could hear a certain child-like joy in Atsumu’s voice.

_ Makes sense.  _ Osamu snorted to himself, huffing lightly.  _ His mental age does drop whenever volleyball’s involved, after all. _

“Yo, Hinata,” he heard Aran walk up to the kid, roughly smacking him on the back. “It’s only about...4 or 5 ish. You wanna head over to a gym nearby or something to practice?”

Osamu boredly, almost lethargically turned his head towards the new trio, only to be blinded by Hinata’s flashing light, as if beams of joy were radiating off of him, “Really?! I get to practice with you?!”

Of course, Hinata had already practiced with another Top 5 Ace in the form of Bokuto, but 2 was astounding. Playing against 1, Ushijima, was even more awesome in Atsumu’s eyes, even as a person who’d played against Itachiyama, who had Sakusa on the team.

Osamu watched Atsumu roughly smack Hinata on the back to follow the ace up, “Don’t forget about me! Top setter in Japan, y’know!”

Kita clicked his tongue, slowly walking side-by-side with Osamu, “You really let him come with?”

Osamu muttered, scratching the back of his head, “Not like I could’ve stopped the two of them. They’ve got too much energy for me to even try to keep up.”

The captain snorted, “Even you know that’s a lie. You probably wanted him here, too.”

“It’d take longer for him to find his team. Plus, he pretty much fits right in,” Osamu lightly explained, not going into too much detail.

“I’ll...I’ll take that as an answer,” Kita muttered, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he stepped onto the bus, taking his seat before Aran, Atsumu, and Hinata requested that the bus driver take a detour in order to get them to the gym. They clearly hadn’t planned it out yet, but considering how Aran was close enough to Atsumu, they’d be able to make it up very quickly. After all, he couldn’t find a reason not to keep practicing, especially with how much stamina he’d had in the tank.

As Osamu stepped on the bus, he sighed, ready to fall asleep on the bus as they got to their hotel where they were staying for Nationals.

~~~

“Yo, Hinata,” Atsumu called out to the short boy, even though he was right behind him, “We’re sitting right here, cool?” He pointed to one of the seats, going a little past it since Hinata seemed like a window seat kind of person.

As the short boy wiggled his way in there, Atsumu settled down with a content sigh, knowing that Aran had taken up the role of asking the bus driver. He very well knew that the driver wouldn’t listen to someone he hadn’t even met before like Hinata, and with how many antics he’d done, definitely not Atsumu. It had to be Aran.

“Mm,” Atsumu clicked his tongue, slinging an arm around the back of the bus seat. “You text somebody on your team yet about coming with us?”

Hinata gasped, “Oh, that reminds me! Thanks!” He searched around in his pocket before pulling out his phone, “I gotta tell Kageyama I’m going with you!”

Atsumu quirked an eyebrow, smirking lightly, “Oh, Kageyama? I know the dude. We went to the training camp together.”

Hinata excitedly chirped, “Really? Cool!”

Atsumu’s smirk grew larger, an idea popping up in his head, “You think we should send a picture to him? Maybe a selfie? He might be skeptical about where you are.”

Osamu shuddered, even though he was asleep. Even subconsciously, he knew the tone of voice that Atsumu used whenever he was up to something, something real douchebag-like.

“Ooh, that’d be a good idea!” Hinata nodded fervently. He handed Atsumu his phone, knowing full well that he couldn’t take pictures to save his life.

Atsumu hummed, coming up with his next words on the fly, “Lemme get a good picture here. Scooch a bit closer to me...there. Now, lean your head on my shoulder? Thanks. Lastly...you think you can hug me?” It was an odd request, though Hinata was never one to shy away from hugging people he considered his friends (which, unsurprisingly, was practically everyone). “Perfect. Thanks.”

As a finishing touch, like a chef putting the garnish on their dish, Atsumu gently wrapped his arm around Hinata’s side, hand gently placed on his shoulder and gently pulling him in, something that Hinata found oddly comforting.

_ Snap!  _ The phone camera flashed for just a moment, and Atsumu handed his phone back to Hinata, who grabbed it gratefully.

“Ooh, this looks really nice!” Hinata complimented, rapidly tapping on his phone for a moment before shoving his phone back into his pocket, looking at Atsumu. “Okay, I sent the picture!”

“Sweet,” he whistled. “Yo, Hinata. You seem really comfy.”

Hinata lightly blushed, “I-I mean, are you not? I-I could stop if that’d make you--”

Atsumu chuckled, “Nah, nah, don’t worry about it. I’m pretty comfy here too.” He didn’t mention the way that Hinata’s foot was lightly resting on his, though he could tell that that force alone would later be enough to give his foot that numbing feeling.

“Oh, okay,” Hinata’s voice was a little quiet before perking up a bit more. “Cool!” He rested his head back onto Atsumu’s shoulder, this time arms lightly gripping Atsumu’s admittedly lean bicep. Letting out a content sigh, he slowly closed his eyes, shoulder going lax. “Tell me when we make it to the gym, mmkay? I wanna practice with you.”

“Got it, Hinata,” he nodded, understanding how the boy could be so tired. He’d been so energetic the entire time, it’d pretty much take a miracle to not only play a volleyball game, but also stay that energetic the entire rest of the day up until this point.

Plus, it meant that he could continue hugging Hinata like this, something that Osamu definitely would bring up to him later on.

Though, for now, Hinata leaning against him and not the window provided a sense of warmth that he imagined one who guarded somebody would feel, a sense of satisfaction mixing with pride and contentness.

“I can feel your heartbeat…” Hinata gently muttered, opting to scoot a little further so he could lean more of his weight onto Atsumu like a comfy recliner, this time, his head on his chest. Atsumu found it astounding, especially at the weird angle that Hinata had fit himself into, how the shorter boy could find his position as comfortable as it was.

Yet, it didn’t pop into his mind that maybe, just maybe, he might’ve been the cause of some of that comfort.

~~~

_ “WHERE’S SHOUYOU?!” Nishinoya screeched, having searched through heaven and hell for his underclassman. “WE NEED TO GET TO THE BUS SOON!” _

_ The other members of Karasuno searched frantically around the gym, before Kageyama called out loudly, “I got a notification from him!” _

_ In an instant, they all dogpiled on the setter, trying to claw his phone out of his hands, though he’d already opened the notification. _

_ “what. the. fuck.” _

_ Kageyama couldn’t express the jealousy, possessiveness, rage, frustration, and resentment towards Atsumu that he felt in the moment, seeing what was on his screen. _

_ He read the text: “oh, i’m with atsumu right now! apparently he was with you at your training camp? he seems super cool! oh and he offered to take me to the gym nearby to practice with ojiro-san! you guys can get going without me! :D” _

_ Underneath was a picture attached to the message. _

_ The sun gently warming Hinata’s face, eyes shimmering in the light like skies, mouth slightly parted as if breathless from his company. His head gently rested on a firm shoulder, arms wrapped sturdily around the torso, Kageyama could just see the trust and faith put into that hold of Hinata’s. The same cheerful smile on his face, only enhanced by the slight wrinkles by his eyes. The way that the gentle shadow cast from the other boy’s shadow softly added a note of a forest-like tranquility. A beautiful sight of the city outside of the bus window. All of it...was practically perfect. _

_ And all of it? _

_ Ruined by the shit eating grin plastered on Atsumu’s smirk, a personal assault on the entire Karasuno team, as if informing them in the most formally asshole-way possible, “I’ve already got your main guy on my side. How are you going to beat us tomorrow if you don’t even have him on _ _ your _ _ side?” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys have any requests, I'm down to do them!
> 
> Take care, by the way. If you've got any suggestions on how I could improve, please tell me!
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> SpiritBloodDragon


	10. Snarl (Epilogue sort of thing for the Atsuhina chapter)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Extra scene!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, this one isn't a cuddling chapter, but I don't really consider this a legitimate chapter because I just typed this up in like 20 minutes without my brain functioning in the slightest, running completely on self-indulgence out of curiosity.
> 
> So, yeah, there's no cuddling in this, but yeah!

Yet another set, and yet another spike, more impactful than most of the adults in the gym. The sound of the ball smacking the ground, echoing against the gym walls. The spectators could feel the raw power being exerted, the gap in skill between the spiker and themselves.

And the perfect set. Practically able to reach the same spot, unfaltering. It was like a well-oiled machine working in perfect harmony with the peak of humanity.

Alongside them?

A tiny, tiny high schooler.

“Wow, that was awesome!” Hinata complimented, stars in his eyes as he watched Aran spike another ball set from Atsumu. “How’d you do that?!”

Aran put a hand on his chin, mind still rational and not 100% focused on the game, considering there wasn’t an opponent to beat, “Well...the thing that I like focusing on would be momentum in your arm. I think cocking your arm back limits it to how far you bring it back. I like swinging my arm like...a catapult.”

Hinata blinked, and Aran thought that he explained it too weirdly for the short boy to comprehend, but in a flash, the expression of confusion turned to one of absolute awe, “That’s...so COOL!”

He whipped around to look at Atsumu, “Can I try that with you?!”

Atsumu, never one to refuse more practice, nodded with a shrewd smirk on his face, “‘Course, Shouyou-kun. Where d’you want me to set it to ya?”

Hinata pointed to a place near the edge of the court, and Atsumu nodded.

As Hinata took a small breath, he let his shoulders relax before starting his sprint.

The others in the gym watched curiously, wondering why he’d even been allowed in the gym if he looked like a middle schooler. With each step, there was nowhere near the amount of power in them as there was in Aran’s. There wasn’t that intimidating frame of his, the muscle in his arms, nor the menacing height.

Yet, when Hinata got close to the net, he bent his legs ever so slightly…

And flew, like the wind was carrying him high into the air. Some of the spectators stopped their game entirely, incredibly intrigued.

“Ah, there?” Atsumu wondered out loud with a chill smile on his face, looking at Hinata’s arm start to move.

_ Like...a catapult...  _ Hinata told himself, thinking about how Aran had spiked just a moment ago. He let his arm start at the bottom before whirling it upwards in a circular fashion. As he watched the ball come towards him, his breath hitched.

_ Wait, am I moving my arm fast enough? Am I doing it good?  _ He wondered, eyes darting to his arm and where it was. The ball was quickly approaching.  _ No, I’ll miss! _

In a desperate attempt to recover from his focus being disrupted, Hinata quickly sped up the pace of his swing, only to whiff the ball, his pinky barely getting on it and sending it over the court in a clumsy fashion, the spin looking like it was thrown as a soccer ball across the entire field.

As Hinata landed, he looked at his hand with a frown on his face, “Huh…” He looked at Aran. “What’d I mess up?”

“Excuse me?” Aran wondered. His teammates were decently honest, but never so upfront about their shortcomings. Normally, there would be an excuse made. It was fine with him, considering how they were just high schoolers, but from a first-year? Didn’t expect that from him.

“Uh...I know I messed up the swing, but like...is there something that I gotta look at?” Hinata started, before feeling a light tap on his shoulder. He turned around slowly to meet Atsumu’s face.

From hearing about how good Atsumu was from magazines, he’d expect to be berated and mocked for missing the spike, similar to Kageyama. That’d been the main experience he’d had with setters so far, anyways.

Surprisingly enough, though, Atsumu seemed amused, “That’s cool. Didn’t think you’d just miss the spike.”

Hinata flushed, embarrassed, “H-Hey!”

“I didn’t mean it was a bad thing,” Atsumu brushed it off, holding up the volleyball that he’d retrieved from the other side of the net. “Most people can’t even catch up to my spikes. You were too ahead of it, is the thing. I can see why Tobio-kun likes being on Karasuno, and why he was so...underwhelmed by Hoshiumi.”

“Hoshiumi?” Hinata chirped, dumbfounded. He’d never heard of that name before.

“Ah, he’s a guy from the training camp we went to,” Atsumu explained. “Kinda like you. Small, fast, all that stuff. But he’s got a bit more experience. I think if you went up against him, you’d be fighting yourself.”

“Really?” Hinata blinked, a little frustrated internally that there was someone just like him.

“Yeah, I’ve seen him play. I’m guessing you play just like him,” Atsumu spoke more to himself than Hinata. “And I remember watching the recording of the game where you guys faced Shiratorizawa. You and Tobio-kun have a cool spike together. The...super quick?”

Aran quietly groaned, “You would not shut up about that earlier.”

Atsumu snapped, “Hey, it’s cool!” He turned back to Hinata, his expression completely pacified yet again. “So, lemme try something.”

“Huh?” Hinata wondered. “Whaddaya mean?”

“I wanna try setting it to you, that quick of yours,” Atsumu stated. “Lemme try.”

Hinata blinked. He genuinely didn’t believe that Atsumu would be able to, considering how they’d failed a normal quick just now. Plus, he may have been called the best setter, but Kageyama hadn’t gone to Nationals in middle school to receive that sort of attention.

He nodded stupidly, before going back to the end of the court where people usually served from.

Atsumu tossed the ball to Aran, “Yo, can you toss it up in the air for me? I want this to be a real spike.”

~~~

“Where’s the volleyball court?!” Sugawara huffed. The team stupidly decided that it’d be quicker for them to drop their stuff off on the bus before sprinting to where the gym was supposed to be, their brains clearly malfunctioning when they didn’t realize how much faster it would’ve been.

Therefore, they had all sprinted to the gym at lightning speed, Kageyama having to practically drag Tsukishima along after he decided it wasn’t worth it, along with the help of Yamaguchi and Nishinoya.

The employee, dressed incredibly casually with sweats and a hoodie on, moved their tongue around, keeping the gum on the inside of their cheek to speak up, “Oh, just down the hall over there.” He stuck his thumb out to the left of him, voice dull and lethargic, almost sleepy. “You see the sign over there? Just head down and it’ll be the second door on your left. It’s a huge door so you can’t miss it.” His attention drifted back to his phone the moment he finished his sentence, which was good considering he wasn’t expecting a thanks that wasn’t going to be given.

In a flash, like a pack of wild animals, the Karasuno team’s eyes darted over to hone in on the sign like a sniper, before collectively going there as a herd without any caution for any poor soul that dared to get in the way of the shortest, most direct path there.

Kageyama, desperate to stop Hinata from being tainted by Atsumu, was the fastest, getting to the gym quickly. Grabbing the door handle, he quickly opened it up, almost breaking it to push the door open with all his might.

~~~

A wave of hostility flew through the gym, like malevolence manifested into a physical form. The lights seemed to get dimmer, the air became heavier, and the sound in the room had become almost nothing.

_ Step.  _ The eyes of the spectators, almost frozen in time as they were watching the boy start his run. 

_ Step.  _ Aran, watching on in interest, curious to see the super quick in person, looking at Hinata approaching the net.

_ Step.  _ Atsumu absorbed all the information available to him. The seams of the ball, the speed of Hinata’s run, the placement of his foot when he was almost about to jump.

_ Step.  _ The wind that carried Hinata’s wings, pushing him upwards in a glorious force, one that could lead someone to think a permanent imprint had been left on where he’d leapt.

The Karasuno team clattered through the door the moment they’d caught sight of Inarizaki’s jersey, the blonde hair catching their eyes.

They saw red, before seeing Hinata’s orange hair and the Karasuno jersey. In the air, his jersey slightly flapping from the air around him.

The ball slowly approached Atsumu. _ Crash!  _ With the elegance and grace of a tidal wave, Atsumu redirected the ball towards Hinata at a supersonic pace, eyes focused, expression determined rather than his typical arrogant smimrk.

_ Slash!  _ Hinata’s right arm cut through the air like a fine blade, looking near the corner of the court, exactly where he wanted to hit the ball. He watched the ball spin ever so slightly, before almost coming to a stop right in front of him.

_ Smack! _

Hinata’s palm and fingertips made contact with the ball, a snap being heard as the ball crashed onto the other side of the court similar to the force of an avalanche, all cascading down alongside Hinata before he landed on the ground with a smile on his face that’d Kageyama’d seen many times.

The same joyous smile that he’d seen when the two of them would do their quick.

Key word?

_ Their. _

It wasn’t Hinata’s and Atsumu’s.

It was theirs.

It was not Atsumu’s. It would never be  _ Miya Atsumu’s  _ set. It was theirs, and theirs alone.

Sugawara felt the power of the spike, the way that Atsumu landed with a satisfied smile on his face, and the pain of Hinata playing with such a douchebag without even knowing about his douchey-ness all struck his heart like twenty arrows honing in, moving as fast as missiles.

The others in the gym had their jaws almost drop to the floor, impressed, before everyone caught wind of the Karasuno team in a mad dash towards Atsumu, Aran, and Hinata.

They all snarled at Atsumu, looking more like a pack of wolves more than a murder of crows. He felt like he was being watched, every detail of his body scrutinized.

_ So this is what people feel like when they play Nekoma? _

As Hinata cried out in protest as his team got in between him and Atsumu defensively, they took a step back.

“Hey! I’m practicing!” Hinata whined, trying to dig through the wall of his team before yanked back into Tanaka’s arms, who held him defensively.

“You  _ were  _ practicing,” Nishinoya corrected, hitting Atsumu with a ferocious glare. It was almost comical how they disregarded Aran’s presence, as if he wasn’t even a top 5 ace in the first place. “And you aren’t practicing any more, especially not with someone like... _ this. _ ” He spat the last word out venomously, as if murderous intent was laced somewhere in there.

“What do you mean, Nishinoya-senpai?” Hinata tilted his head naively. “Atsumu’s awesome! And his sets are so cool! Bakayama! Did you know that he can do our quick too?!”

And with that, something in Kageyama’s head snapped, driving the rest of the team outside of the gym and far away from Atsumu, presumably back to their hotel, leaving the setter and ace of Inarizaki in the dust.

Aran sighed, before an amused smile wormed its way onto their face, “I mean, I guess we should’ve expected that.”

Atsumu whistled, chuckling lightly, “Yeah, we should’ve. It’s fine, though. I got Shouyou-kun’s number, so I can end up texting him about whether or not he wants to practice again.”

“Doesn’t he live in Miyagi?” Aran questioned, raising an eyebrow curiously.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Atsumu waved it off. “I’m the top setter in Japan. I’ve gotta have some sort of influence, I think. Or at least get a fan to drive me there for a signature or something.”

Aran snorted, “Don’t let that get to your head.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes, the Atsumu.
> 
> I'll be getting to the Tsukkiyama prompt next!
> 
> Best Regards,
> 
> SpiritBloodDragon


	11. Contact (Romantic Tsukkiyama)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yamaguchi makes a promise to himself, taking inspiration from the good old tradition of writing the 'person' character on his hand and then 'eating it,' as it usually goes.
> 
> It goes well(?).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I got a Tsukkiyama request, which I did, but I kinda went off the tracks of the idea I presented to the commenter (Uh, sorry about that.), mainly because my brain could produce maybe 20 words about how it'd go. That's my bad.
> 
> Anyways, enyoy

For as long as Yamaguchi had known Tsukishima, he knew him to be a very touchy-feely person.

Yeah, as if. Tsukishima was one of the people who would rather hug a hedgehog before hug another person. It was just something that he didn’t do.

It wasn’t a bad thing, necessarily. It was just something that Yamaguchi had learned how to deal with as time had passed, something he’d accepted and even thrived on whenever he spent time with the tall blonde.

Even when the two of them started dating, Yamaguchi knew that Tsukishima didn’t really know how to tackle intimacy, even the most minute shows of affection. Again, Yamaguchi didn’t exactly love it at first, but it was one of many things that he still loved about Tsukishima. Even as emotionally constipated as he was.

While they’d decided to keep their relationship from the rest of the team, something that Hinata chose the exact opposite path of in openly revealing his relationship with Kageyama, it didn’t mean that they weren’t as close together as the setter and the shrimp.

In fact, from what Yamaguchi could remember, Tsukishima’s first attempt at flirting was this: “If someone ever tried to tell me that I didn’t love you, I’d shove my foot so far up their ass that I’d be kicking their teeth out.”

Yamaguchi couldn’t remember the last time he felt so amused, disappointed, and deeply moved all at once, all to Tsukishima’s dismay. Yamaguchi loved doing everything he could to make his admittedly awkward attempts at flirting better than that, which wasn’t a very high bar, all while somehow making a reference to it in the first place.

Long story short, Tsukishima was one of the most awkward people to be in a relationship with, but Yamaguchi loved every part of it. From the way he tried to comfort Yamaguchi whenever the pinch server was feeling down to the way that he’d always take a deep breath to resolve himself before sternly inviting Yamaguchi over in the most urging, yet polite request-ish way possible.

Yet, a problem that Yamaguchi had always danced around was the idea of intimate moments with his boyfriend. Not anything...that could definitely result in Yamaguchi being banned from ever entering their family’s household, but just little shows of affection. Sure, Tsukishima ended up being the first one to actually say that he loved Yamaguchi, something which somewhat came as a surprise, but words of assurance and praises of somebody didn’t have the same impact on Yamaguchi as hugs, holding hands, or gentle kisses on the cheek that he always hypothesized would make his knees weak.

Of course, he’d had nights where he thought about it absentmindedly before taking a solid five years only to get less sleep than he needed, but for it to happen was something he wasn’t sure how to approach.

Though, today, he wanted to change that for the better. He wanted to take charge, to take control of the problem and solve it efficiently, like Yachi always seemed to do after she got over her initial panic for any given problem.

It’s not like there was much of an issue with setting it up. In fact, Yamaguchi asked Tsukishima if he could spend time at his house the other day. Of course, when Tsukishima’s family got word of the relationship, his older brother would not let up in the slightest. He’d go on all about how Yamaguchi was going to be his younger brother’s savior, the one to finally bring him out of the shell.

Tsukishima, to this day, still gets shivers remembering the one time Akiteru had went: “Get the UwU’s outta him!”

Needless to say, Tsukishima refused to let Yamaguchi come within 20 meters of Akiteru for the rest of their lives.

Yamaguchi quietly sighed, rubbing his hands together, painfully aware of how clammy they were. It wasn’t as severe as a game; games were far more intimidating. The team, the other team, people in the stands all watching. Objectively speaking, Yamaguchi’d been in way more pressure-filled situations than what he was about to face.

However, in his mind, this was way worse than anything he’d ever faced in the history of ever. Even though he knew he could trust Tsukishima no matter what, and knew that he wouldn’t judge him for doing something awkward or being unintentionally weird, this was different. He hadn’t done anything other than high-five the boy, and occasionally poke him in the side to get his attention when he seemed to be zoning out.

He took a deep breath, shoulders stiffing.

_ I’ll do this. _

For the next five minutes, Yamaguchi would then be writing the ‘person’ character on his hand, as the belief went, to ease his anxiousness.

~~~

“Yo, Yamaguchi,” Tsukishima blandly called out, his voice still getting through the window. “I’m here.”

“Coming!” He loudly responded, his voice somewhat cracking. He wasn’t all too used to raising his voice. He cursed under his breath, making sure that he had everything that he needed. Backpack for the eventual time that they’d spend studying, the mental list of new song recommendations memorized, even some of the sweets that he’d baked. Granted, Tsukishima always cooked something up for them when they got to his place, but the sweets were nice for a dessert.

Quickly heading down the stairs, he nearly tripped from clumsiness before seeing Tsukishima at his door. Power walking to his door, he opened it and smiled breathlessly, “Hi…”

Tsukishima cracked a soft smile, rolling his eyes lightheartedly, “You didn’t need to go that quick for me. I would’ve waited for you.” He set his headphones around his neck, pausing the song he was listening to as he casually strolled down the steps, Yamaguchi following close behind.

“You doin’ good?” The blonde questioned, asking the same question he always did whenever he got to Yamaguchi’s. It’d been their trusty conservation starter, since neither of them were extremely social butterflies.

Yamaguchi nodded, secretly glad that Tsukishima wasn’t a super fast walker. With those long legs of his, Yamaguchi would’ve had to jog to keep up with him if he had been one of those speed walkers who bolted down the halls faster than speed guns could register and still called it a casual walk.

“I’ve been doing decently well…” Yamaguchi shyly stuttered out, scratching the back of his neck as he found what he wanted to say. “I-I’ve got a math project due in a w-week...could you--”

“Yeah, sure,” Tsukishima interrupted. “Just don’t expect me to go easy on you just ‘cause I’m dating you.” He coyly smirked, stuffing his left hand in his pocket, right hand dangling loosely by his side.

The freckled boy lightly chided, “At least be easier on me than you were on Hinata and Kageyama that one time.” Unsurprisingly, Tsukishima snorted, clearly pleased at the memory.

“Oh, please. They deserved it,” Tsukishima countered. “Besides, no amount of teaching would get anything through their thick skulls.”

A thought popped up in Yamaguchi’s mind, before it somewhat affected him without his knowing, “I-I m-mean, Yachi seems to be helping them, right?”

Tsukishima stayed silent for a moment, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly, “...Yeah.”

Yamaguchi internally sighed before he continued.

“Hey, you okay?” Tsukishima questioned. Of course, unsurprisingly, under that cold exterior that Tsukishima always held for the sole purpose of the betrayal that he’d gotten over, but still subconsciously held on to, was someone who clearly cared. A bit too clearly, whenever his friends were involved.

Case in point, the first time Tsukishima tried to flirt with Yamaguchi.

Yamaguchi’s heart was going quadruple time, and he could feel it in his cheeks. He was almost certain that Tsukishima was aware; his boyfriend was always hyper-aware of their surroundings, incredibly observational.

His mind wandered back quickly to only a few minutes ago.

_ I’ll do this. _

He steeled himself.

Taking a deep inhale, his mind went  _ Fuck it,  _ his body acting of its own accord.

His left hand, the same hand with the ‘person’ character on it, shot out, quickly messing around with Tsukishima’s hands in a shaky fit before eventually settling in, fingers slowly intertwining with Tsukishima’s.

Yamaguchi hesitantly looked up at his boyfriend, trying to gauge his reaction. He stifled a quiet laugh. He’d never seen him so shell-shocked before. He hadn’t even seen him to the point of his eyes slightly widened in shock. He’d seen it when he was caught off guard, which wasn’t all too often, but in shock was another thing.

Hesitantly shooting a smile his way, filled with doubt and uncertainty, he didn’t expect Tsukishima’s eyes to soften, responding with a soft, content smile.

His shoulders relaxed a little bit, somewhat accepting the sudden hand-holding with a gentle squeeze of his own, making Yamaguchi excruciatingly aware of the difference in the sizes of their hands.

“This feels..weird,” he admitted, awkwardly chuckling. “Is that bad to say?”

Tsukishima tilted his head a little bit in thought, “I don’t think it is. I do find it weird...but it’s a good kind of weird.”

“Okay,  _ now  _ you’re starting to sound like Hinata.”

“Now that’s low.”

~~~

“Tadashi...what are you doing?” Tsukishima asked, genuine interest mixed with a hint of concern in his voice. He seemed taken aback, though not put-off. Everything about his stance spoke more about his intrigue rather than himi being appalled in some manner. That was good in Yamaguchi’s eyes. It meant he was being weird, but the comfy weird.

You know, the kind of weird you can have with only a certain person because you vibe with them on a certain way, differently from when you spend time with other close friends. It’s a certain habit.

“I dunno, Kei,” he admitted, glancing down at his predicament that he purposely put himself in in the first place. “You tell me.” He had a shrewd smile on his face as he struggled to sit up, leaning against the bed and trying to push off with his feet, since his legs and arms were bounded by the blanket tightly wrapped around him.

Simply put, he looked like a sushi roll with the bland, almost seaweed-like color of Tsukishima’s blanket wrapped tightly around him, a pillow stuffed inside each for a decently soft surface.

///

_ As Tsukishima exited the room to go to the bathroom, Yamaguchi waited tensely for the moment the handle snapped the door shut, the crackle of the door like a starting gun at a track race. _

_ Hearing the handle was Yamaguchi’s signal; Tsukishima was always an absolute speed demon when it came to using the bathroom while being one of the most meticulous people in existence to use it. Washing his hands for 20 seconds almost exact, properly drying his hands on a towel, every single thing honed to perfection, one of the absolute weirdest quirks that Yamaguchi found the tall boy to have. _

_ Which was exactly why he couldn’t slow down. He didn’t have time to slow down. It was like focus time, every single particle almost stopping in Yamaguchi’s eyes, his perception practically maxed out. _

_ Resembling Kageyama in how quickly he honed in on a target, he practically had the sniper’s crosshairs look at the blanket, knowing what he had to do as if it were his destiny. _

_ /// _

Tsukishima hit him with a somewhat unimpressed look, holding back a remark he would’ve said to literally anyone else, before rolling his eyes in slight amusement, “You’re weird.”

“Mhm!” Yamaguchi chirped, a bashful smile coming alongside the slight blush peppering his cheeks to work with his freckles. “But you love me.”

Tsukishima begrudgingly nodded, though the shorter boy didn’t miss the glint of affection in his eyes as he got on the bed with a huff, crawling near Yamaguchi.

“So…” he hummed, lightly biting his bottom lip as his mind began to crank in curiosity that he’d never admit to having out loud. “Why are you wrapped up in this blanket, anyways?”

“I was…” Yamaguchi quickly realized that he didn’t plan up an excuse at this moment, not sure that he’d even make it this far in the plan in the first place. “Cold?”

Tsukishima piqued an eyebrow, some of his bluntness seeping out, “That sounds dumb.”

Yamaguchi sheepishly shrugged, before opening up the blanket a little bit, “Can you...uh…”

Tsukishima quickly caught on, though he’d never been asked for this before. He’d never known what sort of witty remark he’d make if someone asked him for a hug or any physical contact, and Yamaguchi hadn’t even asked for it when he’d held his hand earlier. Not that Tsukishima minded, of course.

For the first time in a long time, Tsukishima was speechless. He’d not had to deal with something like this after they’d lost to Aoba Johsai, nor during the training camp since he was dealing with Kuroo’s antics the entire time. Not only that, he wasn’t all too social in the first place like Hinata, so he didn’t have much outside contact with too many people outside of the first years, who’d he’d been dragged into eventually by Hinata after he needed to study.

His lips felt dry, voice caught in his throat. He felt a sense of...weakness? No, that couldn’t be it Seeing Yamaguchi softly reach his arms outward seemed so soft, yet so hopeful for the teen. His shy, hopeful smile, eyes glancing to the side in embarrassment every now and then, the way that he somewhat shifted his position, and the fact that nobody was there to tease the two of them if they were to be seen, not even Akiteru? All of it...just seemed to add up. Logically speaking, it was perfect.

Yet, at the same time, it seemed like the most outlandish idea. Tsukishima didn’t know how to feel. What to do. Usually, he was in complete control of every move he made. It was exactly why he’d been able to block attacks better than most others on his team, why he could manage to be so meticulous and efficient at the same time.

Now? It felt like his palms are sweaty. Knees weak. Arms heavy. Vomit on his sweater already.

He watched Yamaguchi, and as if in the same slow motion state that the incredibly shy boy had been earlier, had seen each molecule move individually, practically able to see Yamaguchi start to retract his arm by a mere millimeter.

He gulped mentally. He hated going outside of his comfort zone, often why he never talked to too many people, had opened himself up to people.

_ But this is  _ _ Yamaguchi.  _ A voice told him inside. Another millimeter, and Tsukishima could virtually sense the muscles in Yamaguchi’s hands start to close his outstretched hands back into normally limp idle ones.

_ So? How does that affect it?  _ Another voice told him. He saw the shyness in Yamaguchi’s eyes, the entirety of it just now, ever so slightly, starting to be pushed to the side, inklings of regret trickling in. His heart pounded at it.

_ He. Is. Your. Boyfriend.  _ The first voice told him.  _ You  _ _ love _ _ him.  _ Even the gentle smile that he’d been met with multiple times, he could see it.

He could see the way that the slight upturn was about to be wiped off, like there wasn’t a moment to lose before it happened.

Tsukishima could feel the strain on his body, yet he couldn’t hold back anymore.

He couldn’t see Yamaguchi sad. Especially not by his own hand.

~~~

_ Plink! _

The gentle running of a drop, rolling down a dry path before falling off, splashing softly, almost silently.

Yamaguchi smiled, trying to stop himself from showing how quickly and forcefully his heart was pounding, very gently letting Tsukishima embrace him as he snaked the blanket around both of them yet again.

The moment he felt the gentle drop fall onto his shoulder was a different moment, something that made him slightly curious. He first assumed it was just something he’d felt, something that must’ve been in his head.

Yet, he felt Tsukishima’s chest stop expanding and contracting, as if breathless, taken away. He felt another drop on his shoulder.

Yamaguchi slowly opened his eyes, finally realizing that it wasn’t just a coincidence, what he’d felt the first time around.

He gently removed his head from Tsukishima’s chest to look up at his boyfriend, before gasping worriedly.

“T-Tsukki?!” He quietly gasped, already feeling panic swell in his voice as he gently cupped his boyfriend’s cheek out of instinct, knowing full well that he wasn’t used to contact.

He felt the soft line of moisture coat his ring finger before slowly rolling onto his palm as the tears started to roll a little faster.

Making eye contact, however, seemed to finally snap him out of it, “I’m...crying?”

Yamaguchi blinked, before his confusion washed away, “Yes, Tsukki!” He nodded frantically, worry seeping into his expression as he pursed his lips. “What’s gotten into you?”

“I...don’t know…” he quietly whispered, eyes breaking away in slight embarrassment. “I...this…” he tried to find the right words, not used to being unprepared in a conversation.

“This...this feels nice…” Tsukishima quietly stated, but Yamaguchi could feel the weight it put on his heart, how much he was subconsciously holding back his words. It was fine. He knew from all the time he’d spent with Tsukishima that when he admitted that he even liked something, he liked it way more than he let on.

Yamaguchi lightly bit his lip, deciding to take the risk, “Of course it does, dummy.” He had a shrewd, yet hesitant smirk on his face, which looked like, at least to Yamaguchi, it was able to somewhat calm Tsukishima down.

Tsukishima bit his lip harshly, to the point of almost drawing blood, before letting out a quiet whimper, “I missed this…”

Yamaguchi nodded firmly in understanding, before letting himself melt back into Tsukishima’s arms. If anything, he’d be far more accepting of being embraced himself, but Tsukishima seemed like he needed something to hug in the first place.

Even though Tsukishima’s arms were lightly shaking, and he was only, after a few minutes, able to gather himself to the point where the tears stopped, only coming down to occasional sniffles, it was comfy. It was nice. Because Yamaguchi knew that, even though Hinata was practically the team’s mascot in bringing out smiles out of anyone, Tsukishima was able to open up to him. That Tsukishima...was happy, even if he didn’t look like it. Even if he looked like a mess.

“ I missed this a lot…” Tsukishima whispered tiredly, garnering a gentle smile from Yamaguchi.

“Well, you better get used to it,” Yamaguchi assured him, voice slightly muffled by the sweater and the blanket. “‘Cause I’m the type of person who loves cuddling.”

Tsukishima gulped, before offering a shaky smile, though his voice was firm yet again, “...Good…”

Internally, Yamaguchi was pumping his fist.

_ So glad I did this. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uh, yeah! sorry for not getting to the original idea, but i just sort of felt more comfy (?) writing this, especially cause i started watching another anime and got the inspiration to sort of bring in that idea of the 'person' character, since that's always been super interesting to me!
> 
> anyways, I'll be getting to the iwahina request next (if I'm not reading the notes i made on this wrong)!
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> SpiritBloodDragon


	12. Deal (Romantic Iwahina)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata, Iwaizumi, and Oikawa have a movie night. Iwaizumi, however, has a deal to honor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna be real here. This is probably one of my weaker chapters. I honestly have no idea how to write Iwahina, and I was hoping to make it pretty cool. It's pretty lame, ngl.

_ Step.  _ Iwaizumi quietly breathed, feeling the snaking motion around him, constricting him, locking him deeper into his predicament. He gulped, the darkness surrounding him other than the gentle light coming from the T.V. He could feel it around him. The pressure. The air thickening, the nonexistent fog clouding his mind. Every last molecule around him made him feel like he was in a pit, caught in a trap by a fierce warrior or hunter. The step echoed in his mind, yet the specific clack told him that it was from the kitchen rather than the normal carpet. He let out a soft breath of relief. He had a little more time to figure out how to solve this little problem of his.

Yet, he didn’t know if the consequence of being caught outweighed the positive side effect of the situation that got him in the trap in the first place.

_ Beep!  _ The faint sounds of the oven’s timer echoed throughout the place, though it was likely much louder in the kitchen than the living room, in which he was trapped, of course. He heard the footsteps. He heard the quiet cursing as the other person he was with seemed to be struggling, but he couldn’t even dare alert them to the situation. He could even hear the gentle whistling of the trumpets that usually played when he served. However the hell he convinced the band to play that for him, Iwaizumi would never know, though that too was the least of his current concerns.

However, the gentle snores reaching Iwaizumi’s ears kind of made it all worth it. At least, to him it did.

_ Crunch!  _ The T.V static, the arm slowly going around him in a hug, the soft cheek pressing against him, all of it. He could see all of it happen as though it were in slow motion. It was astounding, how time was practically frozen for him. Even the way the fridge door slowly swung open, far too slow for someone of his best friend to open a simple fridge door, was picked up. He could see every single detail, his perception heightened through the roof.

Of course, it felt like too much to handle at once, almost overwhelming.

At the moment, Iwaizumi had quite the dilemma. He felt slightly overcome with everything around him, how he felt completely in tune with all going around him, yet everything in slow motion, only amplifying its effect on him.

The creepy crawling, the gentle poking at his side, prodding, knocking at his mind to choose. The gentle crawl turned into a skitter, the gentle poking turned into nudging. The skitter into a disjointed, monstrous scuttling. The nudging into a massive shove.

His mind quietly whispered to him,  _ Do something.  _ In all the times that the ace had had pressure out of him, he’d overcome it. In each time that Oikawa relied on him, in each time that he was faithfully set to, in each time that Aoba Johsai had put the weight onto his shoulders with confidence in the decision, Iwaizumi would gladly rise up to the challenge.

In the face of Dateko, he didn’t back down. Hell, in the face of Shiratorizawa, he didn’t back down. Against Ushijima, against that weird gremlin blocker, against the Iron Wall, Iwaizumi stood up and faced it head on.

This was different.

This wasn’t a team that he faced. Not a powerhouse that he could face with willpower. Not with the countless hours of work he’d put into practicing with the team. This wasn’t something that he’d learned to tolerate even after all the years of dealing with Oikawa.

This was something he’d have to be delicate with. Someone he’d have to be delicate with.

Yet, as his mind screamed at him, shouting things that were undoubtedly vulgar and things that he’d certainly used on Oikawa, his body froze. At the moment, as far as Iwaizumi was concerned, they were two completely separate entities.

“Iwa-Chan~!” Oikawa’s pepped-up voice called out from the kitchen, the same sing-song tone that he always used. However, while it would normally only cause a little bit of wariness in the ace due to the setter’s tendency to somehow always piss him off merely by existing, this time, it horrified him. He knew that many of the things Oikawa did in public, such as his trademark grin, were typically insincere. However, he also knew that whenever the two of them hung out together, it wasn’t so much the case, often with both of them having utter faith that they’d be open to each other as best friends, teammates, and athletes.

That being said, his pepped-up voice, his mere presence at this moment rested on the thick atmosphere that’d build up in the living room, a soft, almost misty fog that Iwaizumi could practically see in a metaphysical level.

“The popcorn’s ready~!” He gently called out. “Shou-chan! You hear?” His tone remained as cheerful and playful as it always had, though the ace could tell. He knew. Knew it like the back of his goddamn hand. If there was one thing that Oikawa could be sometimes, it was stubborn. The presence he had when it was needed was commanding.

And when he didn’t get the way he needed? When those he lead didn’t bend to his will? He’d find out. He’d investigate. He’d learn everything he could about the situation.

Even if his entire motto on the court was to make sure the spiker had all the control, and to bring out everything in them, he knew that they’d need to put in everything in the first place if their entire potential was going to be brought out in the first place.

And the captain was more than skilled enough to make that a reality. Even someone as apathetic and mind-numbingly passive as Kunimi would put in everything he could when it came to Oikawa’s legendary powers.

Iwaizumi, having known him all their lives, knew that better than anyone. Which was why he couldn’t move. Like a snake around him, hissing and gently teasing him, its fangs gently pressing against him, though not hard enough to pierce the skin.

“Iwa-chan? Shou-chan?” Oikawa called out again, a little more impatiently. “Popcorn!”

Gentle tapping came from the kitchen, no doubt Oikawa tapping his slipper on the kitchen floor. Iwaizumi could pretty much imagine the way that he probably crossed his arms with the same pout that he’d hit the team with whenever they teased him.

_ Don’t come in, don’t come in, don’t come in,  _ Iwaizumi repeated in his head like a mantra, trying to will the universe to somehow change Oikawa’s mind and actions.

“Iwa-chan?” Oikawa hummed as he casually strolled into the room, before gasping dramatically and narrowing his eyes at Iwaizumi. “Iwa-chan! I thought you were better than this!”

“It’s not my fault, asswipe!” The ace defended himself, venom in his tone as he practically barked at Oikawa, clearly on the tightrope between lecturing Oikawa while simultaneously not waking up the quiet boy next to him.

“You’re making me a third wheel! You promised you wouldn’t!” Oikawa whined, his voice rising ever so slightly, raising a few alarms within Iwaizumi.

“Shush!” He hissed, holding his free hand up to his mouth, his left bicep currently trapped from the ginger’s arms softly clinging to it.

“No!” Oikawa stomped, momentarily entering a temper tantrum as he crossed his arms. “We made a deal.”

Iwaizumi fumed, feeling the rage reach his voice, “Yeah. And it’s not my fault for this. Why won’t you listen to what I’m trying to say for, like, five seconds?!”

“Because. You. Did. Not. Honor. The. Deal.”

A quiet, softly spoken voice yawned, and a gentle shift happened before the voice softly spoke, “Oikawa-san? Hajime? What deal are you talking about?”

Iwaizumi’s eyes quickly darted to the now awoken boy, gently assuring, “Don’t worry about it, Shouyou. Oikawa’s just being an idiot again.”

Hinata rubbed a little bit of the sleep out of his eyes, “Is the...popcorn made yet? I wanna get to the next movie…”

Iwaizumi looked at him with soft eyes, before glancing back at Oikawa with a sudden switch to flaming malice, and once again softly gazing at Hinata, ruffling his soft curls, “Mhm. Oikawa’s just wasting time by not getting the popcorn.” He didn’t think anything of what he said when he said it, though the very next moment turned the tables.

Hinata pouted at Oikawa, sincerity and genuine sadness in his eyes like a puppy that was refused the ball, “But...why? I wanted to have a good movie night with you guys…” Oikawa froze, feeling the aura of fogginess, the freezing way that Hinata lured him in. Instead of the gentle cuddling that he’d hit Iwaizumi with, he had lured the setter with his amber eyes, so wide and innocent, that simply forced Oikawa to look into his eyes, for the way his body react would be too painful for his mind to handle if he looked away.

However, Iwaizumi’s snarky, now arrogant tone snapped him back to reality, “Yeah, Oikawa? Coulda sworn Hinata was the one who invited us. In fact, he invited you before me, right? Be a shame if you were to ruin it for us, right?” Oikawa snarled at the smirking ace, before defeatedly stomping back to the kitchen, temporarily retreating.

Hinata gently smiled, before gently poking Iwaizumi’s arm, “Thanks for inviting me here...I know you two were busy with school and all that…”

Iwaizumi smiled in turn, his violent tone completely gone without a trace as he spoke to Hinata, “Of course, Hinata. Besides, you were the one who asked, right? We should at least be the ones to prepare the place…” Hinata gently wrapped his arms around Iwaizumi’s arms yet again before gently nuzzling his fluffy hair into the bicep, finally resting his head onto the ace’s chest. Iwaizumi gently wrapped his arm around Hinata’s torso before softly pulling him closer.

“So,” Hinata quietly giggled as he settled in. “What deal were you two talking about? Was it about me?” Gently snuggling closer with Iwaizumi, who was surprisingly delicate with the middle blocker, he looked at the various options for the movie they could watch next.

“Mm...something like that,” Iwaizumi muttered, pressing a soft kiss to Hinata’s forehead, who blushed a little in response.

He remembered Oikawa’s words,  _ Look, I know you two are dating, and I know you didn’t want me to tell anyone else. Hell, I’m glad that you trusted me enough to tell me, and if anything, I should honor that trust. But if you two might as well fuck while we watch the movie, I’m telling Daichi. _

“Iwa-chan! I thought I told you I’m not gonna third wheel here!” Oikawa whined as he walked into the room. “Stop making me jealous that you’re dating someone and I’m not!”

Hinata, on the other hand, hit him with a slightly curious look, “But Iwaizumi told me that you were dating ‘a volleyball, or something weird like that.’”

“That’s a joke, Hinata.”

“Honestly, with how much you give yourself to it, I wouldn’t even be surprised,” Iwaizumi snorted. As Hinata softly giggled and Oikawa squawked indignantly, he leaned back into the couch, a content smile on his face. Yeah, he could see the three of them doing a movie night just like this in the future. Even if they were adults.

Yeah, this could be the life for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Neato! I'll be doing Kenhina, Oihina, and then Sakuhina next!
> 
> If you have anything that you wanna see, I'd be glad to get to it!
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> SpiritBloodDragon


	13. Something to give you (Kenhina Romance)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata and Kenma finally meet up at a sleepover once the two finally have some free time, and after some time, they've got some stuff to talk about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I got a Kenhina request about the two of them not seeing each other, and then confessing, which I found pretty interesting! So, I made it into this. Enjoy!

“It’s been, what, half a year since you two’ve seen each other?” Kageyama absentmindedly started the conversation, having sat down near Hinata despite his coach’s pestering. “And you still haven’t done anything?” He glanced at his best friend, only to see him clearly honing in on something to distract himself, though he quietly groaned to help with whatever he was feeling.

“Nothing?” The raven-haired setter whistled, almost in awe and in disappointment. “You already told me, like, at our practice game a few months ago that you finally realized that you were into him. And you, of all people, haven’t done anything about it?”

Hinata suddenly snapped, a somewhat childish tone seeping into his tone, “Hey! It’s not like you’re one to talk…” He went back to twiddling his thumbs, doing his best to focus on the practice game coming up. He and Kageyama watched as Atsumu rose from the Black Jackals’ team bench, before casually strolling towards the court, volleyball in palm.

He only smirked, a light huff coming out of him, “At least I’ve been in a relationship. Granted, Oikawa and I did split because we both prioritized volleyball, which we both understood pretty well, but I’ve been in a relationship. Unlike you.” As they spoke, Atsumu had a confident smirk on his face while he strolled lazily onto the court with the same style that both Hinata and Kageyama had seen on him multiple times over.

As he got in position, taking a deep breath to prepare for his first serve of the day before the practice game were to start, he took four steps back, Hinata and Kageyama both watching him while the former spoke blandly, “But I don’t know how to approach this. At least you and Oikawa are kind of similar...you both work hard, you’re both setters, you’re both weird…”

He got smacked on the back of his head, the smack practically in perfect unison with Atsumu smacking the ball over the net for his first serve. Though the pain registered in Hinata’s head, he only quietly chuckled at Kageyama’s disdain.

“And?” Kageyama prompted, somewhat cherishing the moment. Though the two had been on different teams, they still remained close friends, often calling to talk about their days when all was said and done.

“Kenma and I…” Hinata muttered, his tone become a little less like the confident, bubbly Hinata and more like a pessimistic, icy Tsukishima. “We’re so..different. He’s smart, charismatic, quiet, shy, loves videogames and is good at them, doesn’t like talking to people...and I’m...well, I’m me.” He gestured at himself for a moment, no longer needing to elaborate. Thankfully, at least for Hinata, Kageyama only nodded with a quiet hum before turning back to the court.

“You two are really different,” Kageyama agreed as he started to rise from the bench. “But...you know that nothing’s going to change if you don’t shoot your shot, right?” He rolled his eyes, standing up from the bench.

“Well, that’s what I think,” Kageyama shrugged, brushing the issue off. “I know that Kenma’s usually out for business trips because of Bouncing Ball, but you’re one of his best friends. He’d gladly make time for you whenever he’s in Japan.”

As the previously temperamental King walked off, his words resonated within Hinata’s core, who stayed on the bench a little longer before Bokuto heartily chuckled as he stood from the bench, sauntering towards the court with a strong look in his eyes.

“Alright guys, let’s go!” He declared, as if it were war. “We’ve got one chance for this, and we’re not letting up!”

_ Nothing’s going to change...it’s one chance…  _ Hinata thought to himself, eyes going fuzzy from going out of focus, completely thinking on his own thoughts before Bokuto whistled towards him. The ultimate decoy sprung up, desperate to get his mind off of it.

~~~

“What do you need now,” The CEO’s voice muttered, clearly disgruntled. “I’m trying to go to sleep.” As he watched his character roll out of the boss’s way, greedily striking the Nameless King before being heavily punished, he shoved his headphones to his neck in frustration while his character fell to the ground in defeat. He huffed, seeing the chat go wild with the sixth letter of the alphabet.

“Kenma, I can see your stream,” Kuroo quietly chuckled, completely used to his friend’s aversion to any contact with others while he was streaming. “I’m literally watching it. Why the hell are you going for a strength build, anyways?”

“Okay, Kuro,” Kenma muttered, signalling to his chat that he’d need a moment. “What do you need?” Slowly watching the viewers descend into madness, going mad about people who just arrived asking what was going on, other viewers answering with unbelievable spam, and the moderators going crazy trying to manage it all, he sighed before turning back to the phone, which he held up to his ear.

“You’re comin’ back to Japan next week, right?” Kuroo prompted, taking the former setter’s silence as a sign to continue. “Well, I was thinkin’ we could hang out again. Y’know?”

Kenma tried to keep up his stoic, emotionless tone, “It’s purely for business. I’m not sure if I’ll have any free time.” However, despite his tone, he didn’t mean it. He did want to hang out with his friends, and he didn’t mean to be shutting them out like this. It’d just been a tough month for him because of all the live competitions, especially for the Super Mario 64 speedrunning ones. The speedrunner Cheese had taken the record down at the last live competition, and Kenma was hoping to take the title this year.

Spoiler alert, he did.

Thankfully, Kuroo had spent his whole life learning all of Kenma’s tells and whenever his voice spoke differently from his words, something that the dual-haired streamer was infinitely grateful for.

Kuroo stayed silent, letting Kenma gather his thoughts long enough to hesitantly whisper, “Will Shouyou be there?”

Kuroo quickly responded, and his smirk could practically be heard from all the way in Japan even though Kenma’d been in Latvia for the past two weeks, “Definitely. Just gotta ask him, as his agent, y’know, and boom, he’ll be ready.”

Kenma gratefully smiled, creating a silence that the two of them had learned to love over time, “Thanks.”

Some rustling came over on Kuroo’s side before he continued, a little bit of a lecturing sort of tone dripping in, “Just make sure you actually make a move sometime. Y’never know when Hinata’ll find someone. Make sure it’s you.”

Kenma heard a little bit of yelling, followed by Kuroo responding with his own burst of frustration to retaliate, before the rooster focused back on the call, “Look, Kenma, I gotta go, but I’m thinking a sleepover sorta thing, cool? Maybe y’could make a little speech to confess to him or somethin’! Gotta go!”

Kenma furrowed his eyebrows as the call ended, before focusing on his chat, though the words all blended together as he hesitantly reached out to unmute himself.

“Cool,” he started off, his voice a little shaky before gaining its normal Streamer™ composition. “Just had a call. Now, I gotta make sure he doesn’t find someo--”

He interrupted himself with a quick cough, realizing that his words then didn’t even make any sense for the context of the game, “I gotta find a way to beat him...and I don’t need a whole little speech from chat about what way I need to do it.”

His chat seemed none the wiser.

~~~

“What do I say, what do I say?!” Hinata paced around his room frantically, going back and forth in the same path he’d been doing. He would’ve gone on a run, but he couldn’t let himself rant like this out loud in the park. He’d probably get some weird stares and somehow a restraining order. He kicked at his ankles rhythmically, feeling the gentle pound against the insides of his legs sting but in a way that helped him stay focused. Or in this case, completely honed in on his panic.

He cracked his knuckles. He fought back the frog in his throat. He snapped his fingers. He’d resorted to behaviors that’d normally only been seen in high schoolers dying from stress during finals week, of which he graciously passed, solidly landing on the thin line between failing and passing.

He’d done anything and everything to help his nerves, to calm himself down, yet his heart rate was still blistering, blazing at a rate that he’d only felt before during intense games or on the occasional dreadful thought that he’d trip over his own feet while walking onto the court, or worse, fall flat on his face from losing his balance.

Bokuto never let him live that down, something that Hinata could very well see happening in the next few hours. If something like that, which only Bokuto regularly brought up, felt so much more severe than Hinata knew it really was, how was he going to do this?

How was he going to do something that was actually as serious, if not far more serious, than his mind had made it out to be?

He’d given Kageyama’s words some actual thought. And after some deliberation that took him longer than he’d like to admit, Hinata’d come to a decision. He was going to speak up about his feelings, and do his best to accept whatever results come his way.

He clenched at his stomach, stopping in his tracks as he let out a quiet groan, before shuffling miserably to the bathroom. The volleyball player thought, he could’ve sworn, hell, he would’ve bet his life savings on how he’d finally recovered from his pre-game nerves and any sort of vomit-inducing nausea before an intense moment.

This was clearly not the case where he could bet his money on him not puking in the toilet. As the quiet noise-crunching coughs and spitting came echoing from the bathroom, Hinata did his best to take some deep breaths, eventually resorting to drinking some medicine to help with his nausea.

He threw it up before it even had a chance to dissolve.

~~~

Kenma shut off his computer, slamming it forcefully, something that he’d never do normally. His lips were pressed into a razor-thin line, a cold sweat coming upon his back as he gulped, having finally made it through his stream.

He sighed quietly, letting his shoulders relax ever so lightly, “Crap, why’d I say it like that?” He lamented over the fact that he seemed a little too blunt and emotionless as he informed his chat that he wasn’t going to be streaming tomorrow. Of course, they took it well, even congratulating him and encouraging him to take some well-deserved rest, but to the streamer, it felt like he’d messed something up.

_ Or is that just me overthinking it?  _ Kenma shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose as he leaned back in his gaming chair. He spun around a little before picking up his phone, habitually tapping his foot while he read back through the conversation he’d shared with Kuroo.

“God damn it, why’d I agree to it being so soon?” Kenma cursed under his breath, feeling a little annoyance at how poorly scheduled it seemed to be. It was literally scheduled two hours after a stream that Kenma was going to have, collaborating with someone just because of some stupid reason. Of course, Kenma thought that streaming with a guy who only USED to hold the world record for speedrunning “Mr. Krabs Overdoses on Ketamine and Dies,” but his chat thought that it’d be perfect. From what he knew, though, the streamer had a...unique sense of humor, to say the least, but he could find some of his remarks incredibly amusing.

Regardless, he’d be two hours off of streaming when the sleepover was going to happen, and he was planning to have a meeting with some associates over Bouncing Ball, which was undoubtedly the most boring part of his life. It was the biggest challenge in his life as well. Staying awake to listen to all of them speak over decisions that the CEO had already made five goddamn years in advance? Torturous.

Forcing himself to get up from his chair, he moseyed over to his bed, on which he promptly flopped onto without any sense of grace, sloppily smacking his hair tie onto his wooden nightstand as he slithered into a comfier position. In reality, while he seemed like the most comfy human in existence, his face a perfect form of indifference, every nerve in his body screamed otherwise, his heart on fire as his limbs felt numb.

His fingers felt as if they weren’t there, like a phantom force numbing them with the feeling of what T.V static likely feels like. Shakily picking up his phone, he gulped as he read over the texts yet again, a habit he’d picked up quite some time ago. Scrolling through the group chat that he’d formed with Kuroo and Hinata, he knew that Kageyama was going to come with, and he was glad. After all, he wouldn’t want to make Kuroo feel like the third wheel.

_ “ _ _ hi kenma!!! :D _ _ ”  _ the text read, clear as day, and even though there was no voice to speak the words, he could feel the excitement and sheer childlike wonder in Hinata’s text. It was almost comical how so much of Hinata didn’t change, yet how all of him grew exponentially. Other than his height, of course.

His shoulders relaxed as he let out a sigh, quietly yawning as his hand hit the pillow and bouncing ever so slightly, hand relaxing in turn while his phone fell down onto his bed, no longer putting effort into reading the texts as he rolled onto his other side, knowing full well that he’d have to readjust the blanket later on.

Even with all his experience in maintaining (and dropping) conversations online through years of refined experience, it ended up being Kuroo who had to continue before Kenma picked up with an actual response. He didn’t know how exactly to respond to Hinata when all that was in his mind while he typed and deleted various responses to Hinata in general were all either incredibly poor flirting attempts or trying to actually converse before resorting into keysmashes to convey the emotion he’d kept within.

It was...so odd.

~~~

“You’re such an ass, you know that, Kuroo-san?” Kageyama muttered, though he bore a smirk on his face as he walked into Kenma’s house, greeting the former middle blocker with an eye roll. “You really sent Hinata back out there to grab chocolates?”

The rooster only shrugged, though his eyes held a mischievous, almost snake-like glint to them, “Hey, I wanted chocolates. What’s so bad about a man wantin’ to have a cheat day for once?” He smirked, letting his fangs bare despite the fact that he, was in fact, a rooster and not a predator.

Kageyama sighed, “I knew you were planning something.” His voice held fatigue, though his expression showed just as much amusement as Kuroo’s, who chuckled half-heartedly before giving in.

“Fine, fine. Y’know why I was planning this, anyways. You’ve been asking me all the time about getting Kenma to ask Hinata out anyways, since Chibi-chan won’t do it himself,” Kuroo explained in understanding, ready to let loose before he pointed his thumb towards one of the hallways. “‘Oh, by the way, we’re having the movie night in Kenma’s room. His bed’s comfy.”

As Kageyama headed off, Kuroo leaned against the wall with a lighthearted scoff, crossing his arms as he kicked his foot against the wall.  _ Oh, the mice will play. _

He’d had it all in his head. Organize a movie night when the time came, and when it was available. Mainly because Kenma had so much going on, which, of course, made him happy with his life, but it meant that Kuroo often had to fight with the consequences of his job to get some free time with his friends.

Then, he could set Hinata and Kenma up without them even knowing it. Kenma, of course, didn’t need much motivation to see Hinata as attractive, and from Kageyama had been complaining about, the same went for Hinata. Waiting for the golden opportunity so that it wouldn’t seem suspicious was easy enough, especially with how much they’d had movie nights in high school before.

Last but not least, and this was the hardest one for him, was to let it happen. He’d like a plan to be in his control, knowing how the chess pieces move and predicting all the possible movements. But knowing both Hinata and Kenma so well made it impossible for Kuroo to know how to provoke them in such a way that it’d come out naturally.

All he could do was hope. He scowled, feeling like everything was riding on luck more than his effort, which broke the very rules he’d set forth whenever he was to scheme like this.

And all he could do, at least, what he chose, was to leave.

Suddenly, a ring snapped him out of his thoughts, catching him off guard as the football that Kenma installed personally continued to ring. He pressed a button on the intercom, seeing Hinata with a grocery bag from the nearby supermarket, slightly panting.

_ Did he decide not to drive there or something?  _ Kuroo raised an eyebrow, seeing Hinata catch his breath.  _ What a weirdo. It’s snowing, too... _

He hummed, “Yo?” He could see Hinata, but it was more out of habit than anything else, especially after Kenma called him out one time because he accidentally let Tora in with his muddy shoes without telling him to take them off.

“Hi!” His slightly fatigued voice came through, even with the bright sunny smile on his face, wiping some sweat off his brow as he gulped, licking his lips as he stood straight up again, protecting himself from the light snow.

“Gotcha,” Kuroo muttered, presing his thumb on another button that caused the door to ring again, followed by creaking while Hinata entered with an excited smile on his face, the 25 year-old still having the same smile he had in the first year of high school, if not more energetic.

“So, Hinata, y’ready?” He smirked, seeing the chocolates in his hands. Surprisingly enough, he brought quite a bit, two whole boxes worth of assorted chocolates.

“Mhm!” He nodded, though there was a shakiness in his eyes and a tenseness in his shoulders that somewhat surprised Kuroo. Did Kageyama tell him something, too?

~~~

“Shouyou, could you stop clinging to me, please?” Kenma shyly prompted, a light pink dusting his cheeks as Hinata only gripped onto his panda hoodie even tighter, knuckles white with the sheer strength of his grip. The barely younger adult was curled up on the bed, buried beneath layers and layers of blanket as he watched  _ A Quiet Pkace,  _ which had only been on Netflix for only a few months. A perfect movie to watch, especially since Kenma refused to go to the theater to watch it in person.

“Shouyou, there’s literally nothing happening,” Kenma gently assured him, squeezing the athlete’s forearm very gently while he whispered in his ear, though Hinata continued to shake. Of course, just as Kenma had predicted, Hinata was the biggest wuss on the planet whenever it came to any horror-related thing.

“ _ Exactly, _ ” he stressed the importance of the silence. “There’s  _ nothing  _ happening...what if something happens?” He slightly shuffled, finally popping an eye out from the blanket as Kageyama tossed another piece of popcorn into Hinata’s mouth. Kenma wondered how the hell the setter’s accuracy carried over to literally every other aspect of his life other than academics.

“Then we can watch it,” Kenma whispered, faintly registering the sound of Kuroo violently chugging down a water bottle down in the meantime. “You were the one who chose this movie, after all?” Even though he was technically right, Hinata sure as hell wouldn’t deny it because he didn’t register the fact that Kenma had practically been challenging him to watch a horror movie beforehand.

“B-B-But…” Hinata quietly whispered, before Kageyama’s fingers shushed him in an instant, the raven-haired setter now practically completely focused on the movie in front of him. Granted, he was somewhat straining his eyes, though it felt mostly natural as the dark screen worked well against the dark room they were all in.

The music slowly started to pick up. Very gentle, yet still there before slowly growing as the main character’s breath started to hitch. He gulped, clearly shaken though doing his best to stay silent.

The music slowly became louder, before growing even louder with ambient sounds in the background, before--

_ CRUNCH!  _

kenma and Hinata hopped, and Kageyama’s head whirled, genuine panic in his voice as he picked up the nearest object to whack something with in self-defense, before a gigantic, prideful howl broke the room.

“Oh, my fucking god!” Kuroo wheezed loudly, clutching at his left side as he cackled before holding up his left hand, showing the water bottle that he crushed right when the music finally reached a breaking point. “You guys should’ve seen the looks on your faces!” He smirked, tossing the crushed bottle up in the air a few times before getting up. “I guess this calls for a bathroom break? GOtta make sure you guys didn’t piss your pants, after all.”

As Kuroo stood up from the couch, satisfaction on his face, he strolled out of the room before hitting Kenma with a meaningful look before his eyes darted to Hinata’s before the rooster finally made his full exit into the kitchen.

Kageyama followerd suit, nodding his head at the two before getting up to go to the bathroom himself, since he, as many others would, didn’t want to piss his pants in front of his friends because of a movie.

As Hinata realized the, in retrospect, amusing move that Kurooo made, he shot a nervous smile towards Kenma, who clearly hadn’t been paying attention to Kuroo or Kageyama leaving the room. Instead, his focus was on something else entirel, based on how his breath was caught and the way there was a light blush on his cheeks that Hinata couldn’t help but notice, before following Kenma’s eyes.

“A-Ah, K-Kenma!” Hinata stuttered out, his palms instantly feeling twenty times as clammy as they’d normally be. “S-Sorry!” He quickly removed his hand from Kenma’s, as their fingers had been locked together, before making contact with the former setter.

_ He...he held my hand…  _ Kenma registered in his mind, locking eyes with Hinata, eyes wide and all before gulping, realizing what he needed to do with this.  _ If I don’t do anything...nothing’s going to change… _

_ This...it’s one chance…  _ he told himself, the silence in the room almost suffocating as Hinata scooched ever so closer to him, “S-Shouyou…”

Hinata could feel Kenma’s breath on him, and gulped, feeling the pressure tenfold, far greater than any volleyball game he’d ever been in as Kenma started, though his voice seemed to fall apart.

Hinata gulped, “Y-Yes?” He didn’t know where he was going with this, but he knew he couldn’t stop himself.

_ I...I have to make a move sometime...I...I don’t know when Kenma’s going to find someone...I…  _ Hinata’s resolve began to strengthen, before softly grabbing Kenma’s hand again.  _ I...I have to make sure it’s me! _

“I…” Kenma began, before shutting up and gulping. “I…” he looked away for a moment. “Do...do you mind if I just show you instead?”

Hinata tilted his head, before nodding gently, not a word or sound coming out of him before Kenma very slowly but surely wrapped his arms around Hinata, causing the younger adult to freeze up for a moment.

“I...I...I like you. I like you, Shouyou,” Kenma admitted, feeling an immense amount of weight lift from his shoulders. Hinata bit his lip, body completely freezing.

“I…” Hinata began, searching frantically for the words he wanted to say.  _ Come on, come on, come on! You can’t leave him hanging!  _ “I...I have something to give you!” As he spit out the words, he instantly wanted to slap himself for how stupid it was.

“...” Kenma stayed silent, in shock, almost. “...What?” It was clear he hadn’t been expecting it either.  _ Oh, how could I be so stupid! Of all the things I could say to the thing I wanted to hear, it was that! _

“J-Just…” Hinata gulped, before reaching down to the side, fumbling around for a bit before grabbing something and showing it to Kenma. “H-Here. For you…” He looked away bashfully, before hearing a gentle laugh.

“Only you, Shouyou…” Kenma whispered gratefully, hesitantly kissing Hinata on the cheek while he was looking to the side. “Only you would accept my confession by telling me that you have something to give me.” His voice was soft, though as Kenma pulled Hinata tight into his arms, Hinata could feel the emotion surge out of the quiet, normally expressive boy. It was a hug that he gladly reciprocated.

_ Click! _

“Huh?” Kenma blinked, feeling the atmosphere vanish as he searched for the source of the sudden flash of light, before locking on. “Kuroo! What are you doing?”

“Taking a picture of you two, duh,” Kuroo crooned, pressing a button on his phone before showing it to the two. “Just look at ya here! I never thought I’d see the day where you actually initiate contact with someone!”

Lo and behold, it was a picture of Kenma gently pulling Hinata into his arms while he pressed the gentlest of kisses onto the volleyball player’s cheek, a heavy blush on Kenma’s face as he did so, though a tranquility in both of their eyes while Kenma held the chocolates in his right hand.

“Delete it.”

“Nope.”

“Delete. It.”

“Hey, Kenma? Nope!”

“Please, Kuroo-san?!”

“Not even for you, Chibi-chan. Oh, Kageyama, there you are. Y’wanna see this picture I got of Kenma and Chibi-chan being whipped for each other?”

A gag.

“Nah, I see enough of Hinata being whipped for Kenma at our practice games.”

“Hey!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna get to the Oihina one next! If you have any requests for any ships, I'm down to do it!
> 
> Best Regards,
> 
> SpiritBloodDragon

**Author's Note:**

> If you guys have any requests, just put them in! There are only two sorta guidelines please cause i can't handle more
> 
> 1: Gotta be a cuddle-related prompt, or at least, a general situation that I could make into cuddling.
> 
> 2: Please please please no smut please please no. i can't write smut for anything i'm sorry


End file.
